The Three Demons: Descent
by Kioko the pirate
Summary: It's been some time since Kioko left and now the family is beginning to feel the effects of his absence. But when he suddenly returns he gives them the shock of their lives. Please read and review.
1. Overlooked

The Three Demons: Descent

By: Kioko the pirate

Chapter 1: Overlooked

It was a rare sort of day in the Pelekai household. All was laid back and quiet, each family member tended to his or her own little activities. The home was a picturesque example of the peace and tranquility that defined island life. However, there was one member of the family that hadn't yet gotten the message to relax. While Stitch, Lilo, Nani, and the triplets sat comfortably watching television, their view became repeatedly obstructed by Angel's head or backside as she frantically darted around the room. With a can of furniture polish in one paw and a dust cloth gripped in the other, she went to war with every speck of dust in the house. From the floor to the ceiling, no surface was safe from her obsessive scrubbing.

Slowly, the family's attention was stolen from the television and drawn to the pink experiment as she crawled about the ceiling, wiping away unseen filth. Their eyes followed her as she climbed down and went to work cleaning the bookshelf. The six of them glanced at each other; silently deciding who it was that would talk her down from her cleaning spree. It had come to be a regular chore over the preceding weeks. Angel had started to become anxious and constantly sought something to occupy her mind. The reason was far from a mystery to her family, in fact, they were surprised at how well she had been handling herself.

"I hate seeing her like this," said Lilo as she watched Angel dust each book, cover by cover, "It's almost heart breaking."

Nani gave a nod. "I know what you mean, but at least she's been getting the house really clean."

Lilo gave her sister a dirty look while Stitch folded his arms over his chest and sighed. "I still don't understand why she's been getting worked up like this. I mean for the past few nights we'd be laying in bed and she'd just start firing off questions like: 'What do you think he's doing?', 'Do you think everything is ok?', 'When do you think he'll be back?'. It's like she's obsessed."

"Well what do you expect, Dad," said Ashley as she looked up at her father, "She's as close to Uncle Kioko as you are to Aunt Lilo. How would you feel if Aunt Lilo left for close to two years? You'd start to go a little crazy too."

"I would not go crazy because it's a completely different situation between me and your aunt." Stitch defended.

"How is it at all different?" asked Lilo with one, disbelieving brow raised.

"It's different because… because it's… I don't know why it's different," the family let out simultaneous disenchanted sigh as their heads fell, "It's just different, that much I know."

"I got to admit, I've been feeling a little anxious lately too. What do think could be keeping him from coming back?" said Kina as he rested his chin on his knees.

"I bet he's just out kicking ass somewhere." grinned Oki as he threw a couple punches.

"Hey, watch your language," scolded Stitch, "Just because you three are 'full grown' doesn't mean you can talk like that." Stitch looked back at Angel, who had begun to dust another book. "But you know what? The next time I see him I'm going to kick his ass for making your mother crazy like this."

"Yeah well, can some one stop her please; she's starting to dust letter by letter." Nani said sympathetically.

"I'll get her," Kina volunteered as he got to his feet and walked over to Angel, "Come on, Mom, why don't you take a break for awhile?"

Angel breathed a frustrated sigh as she tossed a book to the side. "I'd love to, but I can't when this place is so filthy! It doesn't help that I'm the only one that does anything around here."

"Mom, the house is fine," Kina took his mother by the arm and tried to lift her to her feet, but she refused to budge, "you just need to relax. You're overworking yourself for no reason."

Angel yanked her arm away from her son and continued to clean the books. "I'm overworking myself because no one helps me around here."

"We help you! Heck, we're trying to help you right now. You need to calm down, making the house spotless isn't going to make Uncle Kioko come back any faster."

Angel froze and stared soullessly into the volumes of books that sat before her. A split second later she sprung to life. She threw the book to the side, got to her feet, and stormed off into the hallway. Kina was left standing there, his ears draped over his shoulders in shame.

"Way to go, Loser!" Oki called out harshly.

"Shut up, I didn't mean to say that, it just slipped out."

"Now's not the time, you two." said Stitch as he hopped off the couch and headed out into the hallway, the rest of the family followed close behind.

They all made it into the hallway in time to see Angel hang a sharp right at the top of the stairs. The gang quickly pursued her up the stairs, but by the time they reached the top all they could see was the bathroom door slamming shut.

"Well I hope no one needs into that bathroom any time soon." joked Nani.

Without another word, everyone walked down the hall and took up positions around the bathroom door. "Come on, Honey," Stitch yelled, "don't do this."

"I'm sorry I said what I said. It was an accident." added Kina as he stepped forward.

"You don't need to be so worried," Stitch continued while placing his paw on the door, "you know Kioko will come back. You just have to be patient."

"We've been patient for almost two damn years," Angel screamed, her voice cutting through the wooden door like it was nothing, "He promised he'd be back after one, so I've been more than patient enough!"

"Mom, Uncle Kioko's a space pirate, he's eccentric, maybe he just got caught up in something and is running a little late." Ashley suggested with a cheerful tone.

"I bet he's just on some kick a… butt, a kick butt adventure!" Oki said hesitantly after catching a warning glance from Stitch.

"Angel, think about it, do you honestly think he wouldn't come back to see you? I find that hard to believe considering how close you two were," Stitch cringed at the thought, "Pirates like treasure and it's obvious that you… were one of his most cherished treasures."

Stitch nearly gagged on his own words; they made it sound like Angel and Kioko had been having an affair. He hadn't thought it possible, but his feelings of contention toward Kioko had only grown stronger since he had left. Even in his absence the pirate managed to step upon his pride, crushing his image down before the eyes of his Ohana. With no enemies attacking and no chances of heroism arising, Stitch was left defeated by the mere speculations of what Kioko might be doing. While he ordinarily wouldn't be opposed to Kioko's extended absence, he did find himself hoping for his quick return. That way, Angel's mind could finally be put at ease.

Just then, Stitch realized that no sound had come from the other side of the bathroom door for some time. He tapped his knuckles lightly against the door and then held his ear close. "Angel, buchi-boo, are you ok?"

On the other side of the door, Angel sat in the tub with her legs drawn up against her body and her arms wrapped around her knees. Just like Stitch, she had lost herself in her thoughts; her family's calls may as well have been a thousand miles away. But while Stitch's thoughts circled around cursing Kioko's existence, Angel's thoughts were of a far different nature. She was like a child pining for the warmth of her father. Her eyes burned as if the air around her was on fire, but no tears arose to douse the flames. Instead, she tried to smother them by closing her eyes tight and burying her face into her legs. Retreating into the depths of her mind, she conjured forth an image that would appease her famished heart.

'I thought I could handle this,' she thought, allowing her unspoken words to echo in her mind, 'I thought I was strong enough to stand on my own. It was only going to be a year, that's it, not a day longer than a year. It was going to be easy, I would just push these feelings behind me and press forward. I wouldn't look back and before I knew it the year would be over, it'd all be over. But 6-2-7 and that damn bounty hunter had to go and screw it up! They forced me to look back and they tore open this scar.' Angel tightened her arms around her knees and gritted her teeth.

'I thought I could manage it, rebury it deep inside until you returned. But a year has passed and you haven't come back. I don't know how much longer I can hold on, I can feel it growing, pulsating inside of me like a tumor on my soul. You never told me exactly what would happen if I lost control and so now I live with constant fear. Fear not for myself, but for my ohana. I feel like I'm holding a gun to their heads and have no control of the trigger,' An image of Kioko manifested in her head, slowly working from the feet up, 'I try to remember your encouraging words, your empathetic embraces, anything to try and lower the gun, but they seem to be slipping away. I need you to come home, Kioko, before my memories fade too much. I can still remember the feeling of your touch, your smell, the sound of your voice,'

The full image of the pirate finally came into view; it was like she was looking at a photo. However, there was one glaring problem, he had no face. What took its place she could only describe as a spot of black ink, smudged across the picture.

'But I can't remember your face. No matter how many photos I look at, it only vanishes the moment I look away,' Angel focused her mind in on that dark splotch, 'why, why is this happening?'

Suddenly, from out of the ink, a glowing purple eye with a golden iris opened up. At its center was a sharp, cat-like pupil that seemed to cut into her soul and bind her eyes and mouth shut, rendering her incapable of screaming. In the same instant she could feel two icy cold arms come from behind and wrap themselves tight around her neck. They started to choke her while a whispery voice began to speak into her ear. The voice was weak and distant, but she could've sworn that she felt its sinister breath against her cheek. It spoke slowly and in a tongue that she had never heard before, all while she remained transfixed on the demonic eye staring straight into her heart. A primal fear welled up inside of her, spreading to each corner of her body like a virus. She felt like she was staring into the jaws of a mighty predator, waiting to tear her apart. The pressure continued to build, becoming more and more maddening with each passing second, until all of a sudden the eye vanished. Just as quickly as it had appeared the eye disappeared back into the blackness, the arms released their grasp, and the voice fell silent.

All at once, the fear that had grown inside of her was released in one, loud bloodcurdling scream that took every one waiting outside by surprise. "Angel!" Stitch cried before kicking in the bathroom door and rushing inside. The rest of the family looked on anxiously as Stitch carried Angel out.

"What happened in there?" asked Nani as she looked down at the trembling ball of pink fur in Stitch's arms.

"I'm not sure," Stitch replied, "I didn't see anything out of the ordinary in there, but what ever it was she saw made her faint.

"Is Mom ok?" questioned Kina as he and his siblings crowded around their mother.

"She'll be fine, I'm just going to go put her to bed for awhile."

Stitch held his mate closer, in an attempt to stop her trembling, and then carried her down the hall to their room. As Lilo watched them head off, something Kioko had told her replayed itself in her head.

"I need to get as far away as possible, and I don't want any reason to come back." She could hear his words just as clearly as if he were speaking them right into her ear. It remained a mystery as to what it was that allowed him to say something so heartless after being such a beloved member of her family. All she knew was that if he could see the impact of his absence, he certainly wouldn't have said those cold words.

As the remaining members of the family watched the two experiments leave, Jumba stepped out from his and Pleakley's bedroom and stared confusedly at their backs. "What is this? Why is everyone just standing around?" he asked as he walked up and tried to look beyond them at what ever was keeping their attention.

"It's Mom," said Oki, "she had another… episode."

"It was a bad one too." Ashley continued as she slowly rubbed her arm.

Jumba gave a nod. "I could tell from all the screaming and slamming of doors. Is amazing the effect that Kioko's tardiness is having on 6-2-4. Not to be sounding unsympathetic to her plight, but is a phenomenon that peaks evil genius curiosity. Would be making fascinating study."

The large alien gave an excited chuckle at the thought, but was halted when Lilo turned around and stuck a scolding finger in his face. "Don't even think about it," she warned, "you are not going to study her like some lab rat in a sick science experiment."

"But she is experiment, my experiment, I can study her whenever I--,"

"I don't want to hear it, Jumba! You're not going to 'study' her and that's final! Do you understand me?"

Jumba held his hands behind his back and averted his eyes in shame. "Yes, Jumba understands."

"Wow, she's becoming more like Great Aunt Nani everyday isn't she?" Kina asked quietly to his siblings.

"Heaven help us all." sighed Oki while Ashley shook her head solemnly.

"What was that?" Nani said as she looked down on the three of them with a suspicious eye.

"Oh nothing, nothing at all." Kina said as he and his siblings all gave big, toothy grins that were more incriminating then innocent.

"All Angel needs right now is to see Kioko again. Even just hearing his voice may help." Lilo said with a glance down the hall toward Stitch and Angel's room.

"Yes, but it has been nearly two years now and we have not heard even tiniest peep from him. There is no way to be telling how long it may be before he sends message." Jumba said as he shrugged his shoulders.

"Are you sure he hasn't sent anything? Maybe he sent a message but it got buried under all those junk messages you get about cures for baldness."

Every eye immediately fell upon the scientist while lips curled up in smirks. Jumba kept his focus on the girl, trying to hide in plain site from his own little secret. "Jumba does not know what messages you speak of," the scientist laughed nervously, "but I am being positive that no message has come in from Kioko. Such an important message would not slip by my keen eyes."

Lilo's head and shoulders slumped forward and the smirks around her disappeared. She felt trapped. On one side she had Angel, a beloved member of her ohana, who was suffering from the worst case of separation anxiety she had ever seen. Then on the other side she had Kioko, the cure to that anxiety, who had seemingly forgotten about his promise to return. The solution to their growing problem was obvious and yet she couldn't lay a finger on it. It was a feeling that drove her heart into a frantic storm and yet she remained still on the outside. Getting worked up wouldn't solve anything.

Jumba raised a large, chubby hand and placed it gently on her shoulder. " He'll come back, trust Jumba. You managed to 'Ohana-nize' him enough that he can't stay away forever. As matter of fact, something is telling me we will be hearing from him in soon enough time. And when I do get message from him, I will let everyone know immediately."

Jumba withdrew his hand while Nani walked up next to her sister and placed her hand in the middle of Lilo's back. "You just have to give him a little more time. After all, how many times was he actually on time for anything?" Nani joked in an attempt to put a lighthearted spin on the situation.

Lilo rewarded her older sister's effort with a small laugh, but never looked her in the face. "Come on guys," Nani said to the triplets as she waved her hand toward the stairs, "Lets go finish what your mom started."

"To further ease your worries, Jumba will go check the computers connection to intergalactic net. Just to make sure everything is in working order." Jumba said before turning back toward his room.

Lilo was left standing alone in the hallway after the kids had disappeared down the stairs. She placed her hand against her forehead, fell back into the wall, and looked up toward the ceiling and the sky beyond. She tried to smother the storm in her heart by clenching her eyes closed. When that failed she tried to overwhelm it by screaming in her head. That plan failed as well. What finally broke her focus was the sound of Stitch and Angel's bedroom door creaking open and then quietly clicking shut. Lilo lowered her hand and looked down the hall to see Stitch walking toward her with the same slumped shoulders and head that she had worn just moments earlier.

"How is she?" Lilo asked when Stitch fell back against the wall next to her.

"Her shaking has stopped, she's just sleeping now." Stitch said with a mix of anger and relief to his voice.

"That's good, she could use a nap."

A brief silence fell between the two old friends as each pondered the situation they found themselves in. One would think that someone had just died the way they stood motionless against the wall with their heads hung low.

"Do you think what Ashley said is true?" Stitch said finally.

"What do you mean?"

"Do you really think that Angel looks at Kioko the same way that I look at you?"

"You mean as a friend or like a sibling who's taller and has less fur?" Lilo asked with a smile, but when Stitch just continued to stare into the wall her smile disappeared. "I think she does. I mean we became close when we rescued one another all those years ago, so I suppose it wouldn't be a stretch for her to become close to the guy that saved her."

"I don't know," Stitch looked up at Lilo with his arms folded, "I think even if _I_ had been the one to save her from Hamsterveil, she still would have grown attached to him. I don't know what it is, but it's like they have something in common, some little secret that we don't know about. What ever it is, I can't help but feel that it's connected with the episodes Angel has been having."

"What kind of secret would cause her to practically lose her mind?"

Stitch shrugged and looked back down at the bedroom door. "I have no idea. I just wish there was something that I could do for her. I don't want my Angel to stress herself out like this. Hey, you think if we got some wine into her she'd tell us their secret?" said Stitch with a sudden burst of enthusiasm.

"Congratulations, Stitch," said Lilo with a slightly dumbfounded expression, "you just made the leap from concerned spouse to creepy prier. I didn't know you had it in you."

"Oh come on, it'd work! You know how bubbly and talkative she gets when she's had a few."

"No! My god, Jumba is definitely your creator. Between him wanting to experiment on her and you wanting to get her plastered… I'm beginning to feel even more sorry for her."

"Ok then, how about you use your alchemy to read her mind!" Stitch suggested as he wiggled his fingers in front of his face.

"Alchemy can't do that, you crazy, blue fuzz ball!"

"But I must know the secret!" Stitch yelled as he pulled on his ears in frustration.

Before Stitch knew what happened, Lilo knelt down and slapped him on the nose. "Ow, what was that for?" he asked as he blinked away the tears in his eyes.

"You're going to wake Angel if you keep yelling like that."

"You could have just told me to be quiet, you didn't need to hit me." Stitch's lower lip quivered as he held his nose.

"You're fine, don't be a baby. Just calm down."

Stitch let go of his nose and sighed. "I can't calm down. I'm too worried about Angel."

Lilo put a hand on Stitch's shoulder and pulled him closer. Her hand moved from his shoulder and onto his back, where it started to move in slow, wide circles. "I know you're worried, we all are, but trying to force answers out of her isn't going to help. We don't even know if there are any secrets for her to tell. It may just be that she really, really misses Kioko."

"Kioko, blech," Stitch grumbled as he leaned his head against Lilo's shoulder, "buchi-boo stealing… probably has his own Angel shrine… jerks off to it every night."

"Stitch, that's not nice… and gross too. He's not trying to steal her away from you and before you say anything, she doesn't love him more than you either. They're just really close friends like you and me," Lilo said as she hugged the blue experiment, "I'm sure they have their own secrets, but they're nothing to get worked up about. I mean me and you have secrets that we've never told anyone about, right?"

"Yeah." Stitch smiled.

"So lets let them keep theirs. If there were anything we really needed to know, Angel would tell us." Lilo said with a confident smile.

` At the same moment down the hall, in Stitch and Angel's bedroom, the pink experiment tossed around in bed for a moment. Her teeth clenched and her paws pulled at the covers as if trying to fight back some terrible nightmare. After a moment her writhing settled and she seemed to drift back into peaceful slumber. She rolled over on her side and gave an exhausted sigh, laced with a black mist.

**That's the end of chapter 1 of my newest "Three demons" series. Sorry it's taken me so long to get started again, things have been taking up a good portion of my time. I'll try to get the next one up quicker. Please review.**


	2. Relief

The Three Demons: Descent

By: Kioko the pirate

Chapter 2: Relief

The inky blackness that had given birth to the horrid eye had become a faded memory. What remained was the familiar, still darkness that graced the back of her eyelids. The freezing grasp of the ghostly arms around her throat were themselves choked out by the feeling of soft, warm blankets resting over her shoulders. A pleasant tingle ran up and down her body as she began to wake. She curled and uncurled her toes as she moved her legs around under the covers, searching for the ever-elusive "cool spot". Despite her ordeal she felt more rested than she had in a long time. Just then, she could feel the bed shake as someone leapt up onto it. The sound of compressing springs reached her ears next. Finally, the mattress sunk downward at her feet as the unknown guest moved closer to her.

Fearing that she would be forced to open her eyes soon, she rolled over onto her belly and buried her face in the pillow. Hoping the action would deter her guest she stayed motionless. Unfortunately, her plan failed and soon she felt a single paw on her shoulder, rocking her gently back and fourth. Yet, she refused to surrender. She kept her face buried in her pillow until finally it became painfully obvious that her rest was over. The battle lost, she rolled over onto her back and, with a sigh, opened her eyes. The sleeping beauty was greeted by the sight of Stitch hovering over her with a delighted grin on his face.

"Good morning, Angel," Stitch said in a singsong tone.

"Morning?" Angel questioned as she rubbed her palms into her eyes, "How is it morning already?"

Stitch laughed as he sat down next to his mate. "You tell me, you've been out like a light since your little… incident yesterday. We were starting to get worried, but Jumba told us it was nothing serious. He said you were just exhausted and your body needed to rest. So how are you feeling now?"

"Much better, thank you, Stitchy," Angel smiled as she sat up in bed, "I actually haven't slept that well in a while."

"I'm glad to hear that, but I thought you'd need more than just a good sleep so for the rest of the day, consider me your loyal servant," Stitch said as he bowed his head and placed one paw over his heart, "If there's anything, anything at all that you need, you just let me know."

"So, you're going to wait on me hand and foot," said Angel incredulously, "You haven't done that since I was pregnant."

"Well I think you're overdue for a little spoiling," said Stitch as he raise his head and gave Angel a big grin, "To start, we have a big breakfast waiting for you downstairs. Complete with everything from bacon to toast and jam, we even have your favorite cheese omelets."

Angel cooed softly and tilted her head to the side in admiration. "That's so sweet of you, Stitch, but to be honest I don't feel all that hungry right now." she said as she rubbed her belly.

Just then, her stomach let out a loud, gurgling growl in protest. Angel's face went flush as she laughed in embarrassment. "Then again, I guess I could stand for a bite to eat."

Stitch smiled as he studied the bashful expression that sat on his mate's face. But the longer he stared, the more he felt like he was looking at a mask. His curiosity and concern for Angel far outweighed his thoughts of her privacy. Lilo may not have been totally convinced, but Stitch knew that there had to be something that Angel was keeping from them. There was no other logical reason for her behavior. He wasn't about to accept "separation anxiety" as the answer.

"There was something I needed to ask you first and I need you to be completely honest with me," Stitch's smile fell into a sober expression as he caught Angel's eyes.

"Oh… ok sure… what is it?" Angel replied as she herself took on a wary look.

Stitch took one last deep breath to calm his nerves before pressing forward. "What exactly happened to you last night when you went into the bathroom?"

Instantly, Stitch began to get his answers. Not in the form of words, but in the subtle shifts of the pink experiment's body. Her eyes grew wider for fleeting moment and darted away, her jaw went limp, and she drew her arms and legs in close to her. They only lasted a moment, but he saw them clear as crystal. She didn't need to say anything; Stitch knew then that she was hiding something.

"Nothing really happened. I just went in, suddenly felt lightheaded, and then passed out." she lied in her most innocent voice.

"Then why'd you scream?" questioned Stitch, abruptly punching a hole in her weak explanation.

Not going down without a fight, Angel immediately fired back. "I was frustrated, I needed to vent. All I could think of to do was scream."

"That was not a scream of frustration. That was a scream straight out of one of Lilo's slasher movies." Stitch said as he elevated his voice.

"It was not, you're just blowing it out of proportion."

"I am not,"

"Yes you are,"

"No I'm not! Stop lying to me!" Stitch finally lost his patience and slammed his fist down onto the bed, "There is no way that 'frustration' made you pass out for nearly a full day! There's something you aren't telling me and I want to know what it is! Does it have something to do with Kioko? Is he the reason you've been acting weird lately? Tell me! Were you having an affair with him or something?"

The onslaught of questions had pushed Angel back into her pillow like a timid pup under the threat of a rolled paper, but at the accusation of adultery, the pup grew fangs. Angel suddenly lurched forward and slammed the palm of her paw into Stitch's cheek, jarring him into a confused stupor.

"How dare you," Angel growled, "how could you even begin to think like that? I can't believe that you'd even consider that a possibility!"

"Well the way you obsess about him what am I supposed to think?" Stitch shouted.

"If I seem obsessed it's only because I'm worried about him! But I guess in your mind that means that I want to get in his pants. Which, going by such logic, would mean that I should have been concerned that you might be cheating on me with Lilo when you were obsessed with her after she fought that bounty hunter." Angel snapped as she crossed her arms.

"Lilo's life was on the line and so I was panicking! I wasn't obsessed, I was afraid!"

"Well I'm afraid too!"

"Afraid of what? Kioko's life isn't in danger he's just late! What could you possibly be afraid of?"

"I'm afraid that…!" Stitch's attention was snared, "it doesn't matter." she said with her voice dropping off sharply into a solemn tone.

She turned and hopped off the bed. With her head hung low and her shoulders drooping she started to walk toward the door. "You're afraid that what? What are you talking about? Tell me!" cried Stitch in a desperate attempt to keep going.

Angel paused by the door and glared over her shoulder at him. "I told you it doesn't matter, so just drop it. It doesn't concern you right now."

Angel walked out of the room and left Stitch sitting on the bed, angry and confused. He had taken a gamble asking her about what had happened and had nothing to show for it except for the frustrated twitch in his left eye and a burning urge to devour a left shoe. He settled for yanking on his eyelids, flopping around on the bed like a fish, and cursing in several languages. Conversely, Angel had quickly managed to push the incident behind her and was able to walk into the kitchen with a pleasant smile painted on her face. Her delighted family promptly and eloquently greeted her.

"Well if it isn't sleeping beauty," Lilo wisecracked, "you feeling better?"

"I am, thank you,"

"You know, now you can't yell at us for sleeping in late." said Oki with a smug grin.

Angel stopped and looked over at her son dubiously. "You think so huh?" Oki nodded, "We'll see about that."

Oki continued to grin while his siblings laughed. "So, I'm guessing Stitch told you about the nice breakfast we have waiting for you?" asked Nani as she pulled a chair out and motioned for Angel to sit.

"Yeah he did," Angel said with an irritated sigh as she hopped up onto the chair.

Pleakley was the first to call her on her sharp tone, but he wasn't the only one to notice. Everyone paused for a moment and focused in on her. "Uh-oh, what'd the little monster do now?"

"He just accused me of cheating on him with Kioko,"

"What," Lilo exclaimed in disbelief, "how could he say that? That's completely ridiculous!"

"He's just freaking out about how much I've been thinking of Kioko lately," Angel leaned forward, crossed her arms on the table, and rested her chin down on her arms. "It's made him a little paranoid."

"If he's accusing you of cheating I'd say he's more than a little paranoid." Nani said as she sat down in the chair next to Angel.

"It's ok though, I guess," Angel admitted as she sat back up, "I know he has a tendency to overreact to things."

"Yeah like when he threw the mailbox through the front window after his limited edition vampire slaying kit didn't show up on time." Ashley said with a chuckle.

"But this is different! He thinks you cheated on him, you can't just let him go on thinking that." Lilo insisted.

Angel raised her paws up next to her ears and shook her head. "When Kioko gets back Stitch will see that there has been no cheating going on and that'll be the end of it. I don't want this growing into a full blown family issue, so for the sake of this ohana lets just move on and chow down."

"Sounds like a plan to me." smiled Nani as she patted Angel on the head and then got up to retrieve the food.

Every one, save for Lilo, resumed what they had been doing before, but the young woman remained dumbfounded by Stitch's accusation. Knowing that Stitch could not keep away from the smell of food, no matter how angry he was, Lilo sat down in a chair facing the hallway and waited for him to come down. She nibbled the inside of her lower lip as she sat rigid in the chair, pondering ways to confront him without causing a scene. Once again she was the outlier in the family consensus, just as she had been when she found out that Kioko had been hired to kill Stitch. While everyone else seemed able to push past the incident, she was not about to let her best friend falsely accuse his mate of cheating and get away with it. Especially after she had told him not to pry. After a minute or two the smell of pancakes, eggs, and bacon became too strong for Stitch to ignore. He came around the corner and into the kitchen with tongue and drool hanging from his mouth and a spellbound look on his face.

"Bacon," he moaned as he practically floated into the kitchen.

Sadly for him, he would never reach the delicious strips of pork, for Lilo immediately got up and scooped him up in her arms. "Come on, Stitch, I need your help lifting my dresser so I can get my ID out from under it." she said with a bogus smile.

"But the bacon!" Stitch cried as he desperately reached for the plate of meaty strips.

His abduction went unnoticed by the others and the smell of breakfast faded as Lilo carried him upstairs. He was carried into her room where he was not so gently dropped onto her bed. Like a cop questioning a criminal, Lilo grabbed her desk chair, slid it in front of Stitch, sat down, and got right in his face. The little blue alien knew immediately that he was in trouble but he had no idea why.

"You just couldn't leave it alone could you," questioned Lilo as her brows furrowed, "You just had to go sticking that big nose of yours into other peoples business. What's wrong with you?"

Stitch sat speechless and confused for a moment before finally getting his mouth to move. "What?" he asked flatly.

"Don't 'what' me. You know exactly what you did!"

"I do?"

Lilo slapped her hand onto her forehead and slowly dragged it down her face while letting out an exasperated sigh. "You went and asked Angel if she had a secret didn't you?" Stitch grimaced as his offense became clear, Angel had tattled on him. "Well?" she said impatiently.

"I plead the fifth," Stitch said defiantly as he crossed his arms and looked away.

"Do you even know what that means?"

"It means I don't have to tell you anything,"

Stitch turned and blew a raspberry at Lilo, but she quickly grabbed his tongue and used a piece of chalk she had in her pocket to draw a small transmutation circle on the tip. "You'll talk or else I'll make it so you never taste anything ever again," she threatened as her hand hovered over the circle.

"Ooh oon't air,"

"Try me," grinned Lilo as she slowly lowered her hand closer to his tongue. The two stared each other down like gunslingers until Lilo's hand was only a hairs breadth away from his tongue.

"Ok, ok, I alk!" he yelled as he frantically waved his arms.

"Good boy, now spill it. Why'd you have to go pry into Angel's private affairs?"

Stitch smacked his lips a few times as he tried to remoisten his tongue. "She's my mate, we should know all there is to know about one another, including secrets. So it drives me nuts knowing that she has a secret that involves another guy."

"But you don't even know if she has a secret,"

"Yes I do! When I asked her about it she tensed up and closed herself off. That's a classic sign of guilt."

Lilo pulled back and cocked an eyebrow. "You got that from one of those cop shows you watch didn't you," Stitch gave a nod, "right… well even if she did have a secret it could be anything. Why'd you have to jump right to accusing her of cheating?"

Stitch lowered his head in shame and twiddled his thumbs in his lap. "It was the first thing that popped into my head when I thought of her and Kioko."

"You just went with the first thing that came to you," Lilo said exclaimed with a rather dumbfounded expression, "Stitch, that's the last thing it could be! Angel loves you with all her heart; she would never cheat on you in a million billion years. You know that,"

"Ih," Stitch peeped.

"You need to stop blowing things out of proportion. Just take ten seconds to stop and think things through, if you do, I think you'll find that all the bad stuff going on around you really isn't that bad."

"You think Angel's problem isn't bad?" Stitch asked as he finally raised his head up to face his friend.

Lilo shook her head. "I'm not saying that. It's obvious that something is wrong, but I think you're distorting the reason too much in your head. Maybe we both are. I keep thinking there's a secret too, but maybe it's just her. It could be that this is just how she handles anxiety; it's hard to say. The way Jumba made you guys, splicing together DNA from different species, she could have gotten some weird little trait that none of us knew about."

"Then why did she act like she had a secret?"

"How should I know," Lilo said with a shrug, "what you need to do is talk to her. Apologize for accusing her of cheating and see if you can't, tactfully, get her to tell you what's bothering her. But if she doesn't want to then you'll just have to force yourself to leave it alone."

Stitch let out a heavy sigh, "I guess you're right… as usual. Why does it seem like I'm always apologizing to Angel for something?" Stitch groaned.

"Simple, you're a guy and she's a girl, it's the guys job to apologize for the stupid things he does. It's just how things work." Lilo joked as she playfully roughed the fur atop Stitch's head.

Just then, down the hall, the door to Jumba and Pleakley's bedroom flew open and slammed into the wall. In a flash, Jumba charged out of the room with a frenzied look on his face and barreled down the stairs, nearly taking out the railings as he skidded around the tight turn. The loud banging of his huge feet against the stairs drew everyone's attention before he was even in sight. The large alien was greeted by curious stares as he made another sharp turn into the doorway of the kitchen. He fell against the doorframe as he desperately tried to catch his breath. Panting and wheezing he tried to communicate with hand gestures, he pointed over his shoulder with his thumb, waved everyone over, and even pointed up the stairs, but the message remained lost. Yet no one thought to ask for fear that they might miss something. Angel was so focused on her creator that she failed to notice the cheese omelet oozing from the corner of her mouth.

Realizing that his sign language wasn't working Jumba paused, took a couple of deep breaths, and even seemed to lose his sense of urgency for a moment. Finally, he let out one big sigh and cleared his throat. The evil scientist looked around the noiseless room like a conductor before an orchestra, eyeing up the entranced faces with a sly little smirk.

"Just thought I'd tell you that we have received message from overdue pirate boy. Come upstairs if you wish to see." Jumba announced casually while pointing back upstairs.

"What?" Angel screamed in a spray of egg and cheese.

The hysterical energy had changed hands and forced Jumba to turn and run for his life. The family had turned into a stampede with Angel leading the way. Chairs were tipped over and a glass of juice crashed to the floor as every member of the family scrambled out of the room. While Jumba running down the steps had been noisy, it was nothing in comparison to the sound created by the mad rush up the steps. One could swear that the house shook. The commotion drew Stitch and Lilo out into the hall and left them with the same curious expressions that the others had worn.

"What's going on?" asked Lilo as she watched her family cram into Jumba and Pleakley's room.

"Grandpa got a message from Uncle Kioko." said Kina with a broad smile on his face.

"Stop calling Jumba grandpa!" shouted Jumba.

Lilo and Stitch looked at each other with mouths drooping open in astonishment and it wasn't long before they too joined the stampede. They all crammed into the small room, surrounded the computer, and jostled around to try and get the best view of the small screen. Angel even climbed up onto Jumba's shoulder like a parrot; she wasn't about to miss a second of the message.

"Apparently, message came in late last night and, given current subspace disturbances, was probably sent one or two days ago. Would have gotten here sooner, but Kioko chose rather unstable messaging frequency. Jumba doesn't know why exactly. Could be…"

"Get to the message already!" yelled Angel point blank into Jumba's ear.

"Ok, ok, no need to be making evil genius deaf. The message is right over here."

Time, in the Pelekai household, seemed to fade as Jumba moved the computer's cursor over to a small icon in the lower left hand corner of the screen. Angel's tail wagged anxiously while an excited grin fought with her lips to stay hidden. A knot grew in every stomach in the room and feet begun to tap nervously when Jumba at last clicked on the icon. Every one held their breath as a window popped up on the screen and a green loading bar started to grow. Jumba could feel Angel's grip tighten on his shirt as the bar neared its end. At last the big moment arrived. The green bar disappeared and then… nothing, just a black screen and a small clicking sound. Confused, Jumba clicked on the "play" button several times but to no effect. He winced slightly as Angel readjusted her paws and started to dig her nails into his shoulder, he never realized just how strong her grip was. The pink experiment soon became irritated and opened her mouth to gripe, but as soon as she did a familiar voice came through the speakers.

"Oh come on, not again. Stupid piece of junk," Kioko's voice came in clear as crystal even though the video remained blank. Although she couldn't yet see his face, a soothing, effervescent feeling washed over Angel's heart just as it did for most everyone in the room, "Ah wait… there we are."

The video suddenly snapped onto the screen and revealed the face of a man that none of them had laid eyes on in almost two years. To their surprise, Kioko had changed his look. His hair was un-styled and fell in black cascades down onto his shoulders. Though they couldn't see clearly past his hair, it appeared that the two stripes on his left cheek were gone as well. He wasn't even wearing his typical pirate overcoat; instead, he wore what looked like a regular, black suit coat with a red dress shirt underneath it. Obviously, his taste in color scheme hadn't changed.

"Well hello, Ohana," Kioko waved to the screen with a cheesy smile, "I hope that everyone is doing well. It's been quite some time and so I must apologize for not returning when I promised. I didn't mean to let time get away from me, but some things came up that kept me rather busy. I'm afraid I can't go into detail about what those 'things' were right now, but I assure you that you'll find out very soon. So just know that I meant no harm when I didn't return and that I hope my extended absence didn't cause any problems," everyone's eyes momentarily settled on Angel, but she remained entranced with a dumb smile on her face, "I intend to make it up to you as best as I can, though admittedly I have no idea how I'm going to do that." The pirate gave an embarrassed laugh as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"My main reason for sending you this message, besides reassuring you that I'm doing well, is to tell you that I'll be arriving back on the island of Kauai three days from the time that you receive this message. Which, by the way, is why I used such an poor frequency; I needed some prep time. When I arrive I'll have a big surprise for all of you, which you should all find very interesting. Well that should be about everything," Kioko paused as he bit his lower lip and looked up at the ceiling, "yup, that's it. Oh, but I do have one favor to ask. Stitch, please take a bath before I get there. I've been away from Earth for almost two years, I'd prefer to not have your musk be the first thing I smell."

Stitch jaw dropped. "Screw you, smiley!" Stitch barked before blowing a raspberry at the computer.

"I'd put that tongue away, Stitch, before I reach through this screen and tear it out." Kioko threatened with a tilt of his head.

Stitch's tongue stopped dead and darted back into his mouth. "How'd he do that?" Stitch asked worriedly as he looked around to everyone.

"Well I suppose there's nothing left to say except that I'll be seeing you in three days. Later!" Kioko finished before the video screen returned to black.

The spell was broken and everyone finally pulled back from the screen. "Well Jumba your intuition was dead on." laughed Nani.

"As it usually is." the evil genius smiled back.

"Am I the only one wondering how he knew I was sticking my tongue out?" Stitch questioned, though his words fell on deaf ears.

"He's been gone for so long, I wonder what kind of cool stuff he's going to bring us?" wondered Oki as he rubbed his paws greedily.

"Oh come on, we're too old to be wishing for souvenirs. We're not children anymore, right Ashley?" Kina said as he turned to his sister, who to his dismay was also clasping her paws acquisitively.

"I hope it's something shiny… I like shiny." she said dreamily as she stared off into space.

"Not you too. You're supposed to stand with me against this idiot."

Ashley just shrugged. "A woman wants what she wants,"

"Woman? You're not a woman yet. You haven't even had your first cycle ye…"

"Shut up!" Ashley interrupted by grabbing Kina in a headlock.

"This is great though," Lilo said with a slight giggle to her voice, "Angel, you don't need to worry anymore, Kioko's finally coming back."

"This is so exciting, I should whip you up a nice little dress for you to wear when he arrives! Since it looks like he's decided to start wearing fancier things you should do the same. I need to find my sewing kit!" Pleakley exclaimed before he started running around the room pulling fabric out of drawers.

Strangely though, Angel remained perched, motionless, on Jumba's shoulder. Traces of a smile could be seen on her lips, but it appeared that a look of disappointment had wiped most of it away. "He… looked really happy… didn't he?" she asked quietly.

Not sure why Angel would ask such a question Lilo answered hesitantly. "Yeah, he did."

Once more Angel's voice fell silent as she stared at the empty computer screen. However, while her mouth didn't move, the voice in her head had its own set of questions. 'How can he smile like that? Hasn't being away from us affected him at all? Hasn't being away from me… affected him at all? When he left it was like the training wheels had been kicked away and I was forced to handle this damn curse all by myself. I used every technique he taught me, meditating, physical exercise, even the little tricks to keep my mind occupied. But I still ended up letting it get the better of me. He had told me that I was just as good at controlling it as he was, so then why? Why isn't he suffering like I am?'

"Angel," Nani's concerned voice snapped her from her thoughts, "honey, are you okay?"

She didn't answer. Angel climbed down from Jumba's shoulder, walked slowly over to Stitch, and then wrapped her arms tight around his neck. Confused, Stitch tentatively hugged her back and then looked around he room for answers. Unfortunately, all he got in return were shrugs and raised brows.

**Well that's the end of the second chapter. Sorry for taking so long. I really can't seem to find any spare time to write outside of the weekends. Which kind of ticks me off. But I'll keep looking for time to write and hopefully I'll get the next chapter done faster. Please Review.**


	3. Surprise

The Three Demons: Descent

By: Kioko the pirate

Chapter 3: Surprise

"My main reason for sending you this message, besides reassuring you that I'm doing well,"

"…For sending you this message, besides reassuring you that I'm doing well,"

"…Besides reassuring you that I'm doing well,"

The small piece of Kioko's message played over and over again as Angel repeatedly clicked the "play" button on Jumba's computer. She stared, unblinkingly, at his face while her mind analyzed every little detail in his voice. There had to be something, something in the way he moved, in his tone of voice, that would give her a clue as to how he could be handling his scar so much better than her. She was so determined to find the answer that she hadn't moved in hours. She could feel her joints stiffening, her body becoming as rigid as a statue, but even as the stiffness in her neck grew into a headache she remained focused. The painful pounding in her head would not overcome the anxious pounding of her heart. Too much was at stake for her to give in to mere discomfort. The safety of her ohana rested on whether or not she could discern an answer; at least that is how it felt. Once again the uncertainty of just what could happen if the scar got worse weighed down on her. Silently, she cursed Kioko for not telling her more. On some level, she did see her search as a waste of time, with Kioko returning the next day she wouldn't have long to wait to get the answers right from him. Yet on another level, she wanted to keep searching, just in case he decided to withhold more information.

That thought brought about its own set of questions; why wasn't he telling her everything? What was he hiding from her? Angel's stiff elbows popped as she buried her face in her paws.

"Damn it," Angel swore, "Why do I have to live like this? What'd I ever do to deserve this suffering?" Angel lowered one paw and clutched her heart, "I want it gone, I want this damn curse gone!"

"I want it gone," she repeated over and over as she dug her nails into her chest. Her grip continued to tighten, the tips of her claws began to poke out from her fingertips, threatening to pierce her flesh, but just then she was brought back by a knock at the door.

With a change of face that would make a mime jealous, Angel sat up, closed the computer, and turned toward the door in time to meet her daughter with a small smirk.

"What were you doing, Mom?" Ashley inquired with a small tilt of her head.

"Nothing really, just shopping online for some new sheets. You're father's been clawing at the bed in his sleep lately and managed to rip a few holes in ours." Angel said with only a partial lie. In fact, her lie reminded her that she did need to look for sheets later.

"Oh, well Aunt Lilo wanted to know if you wanted to go with her to get some sandwiches for lunch?"

"She asked specifically for me?" Angel asked curiously.

"Yeah."

"Ok, well tell her that I'll be down in a minute."

"Ok." Ashley said before closing the door.

"I wonder why she wanted just me?" Angel pondered aloud as she scratched her head.

A few minutes later Angel drove off with Lilo into town. The two of them remained silent for most of the trip, since Angel payed more attention to the flowers whizzing by. But as time passed, the silence began to rattle Lilo's nerves. It compelled her to speak until she finally broke down and cleared her throat. She glanced over at the experiment but Angel remained focused on the flora. She tried again but was still unable to get a response. The pink experiment remained frozen, save for her ears, which flapped gently in the wind. Seeing that simple grunts weren't helping, Lilo threw on a smile and spoke up.

"So it's a nice day out today, isn't it?" she said as she cringed inside from her own cliché.

Angel turned away from the scenery and looked over at her. "Yeah, it is. It feels good after having been cooped up in the house cleaning all day."

"I'd imagine," Lilo said with an uncomfortable laugh. She usually didn't get so uncomfortable whenever she was alone with Angel, but like Stitch, she couldn't help but think about what had happened in the past few days, "It's always nice to get out of the house."

She didn't want to buy into Stitch's conspiracy theories and she really didn't want to jump to outrageous conclusions like he had done; yet she couldn't help feeling more and more curious. The maddening part of it was that it appeared to be a sensitive subject for Angel, so she couldn't just come right out and ask. She had to wait for the right moment and casually slip it in. Even then, there was no guarantee that her curiosity would be satisfied.

"Is that why you asked me to come along?" Angel suddenly asked.

"What?" responded Lilo, as she had been caught off guard.

"Why'd you ask just for me to come along with you?"

Lilo shrugged. "No particular reason. I just thought that it had been awhile since me and you had gone somewhere together so I figured 'why not'? Is that weird to you?"

"No," Angel admitted with a shake of her head, "It's just uncommon. Whenever you take me somewhere you usually bring Stitch along too. I always thought that he was your go-to errand companion and I was just an extra."

"What," Lilo exclaimed in disbelief, "no, no that's not how it is at all. You see, one of the main reasons why I seem to take Stitch everywhere is that, unless he's really preoccupied with something, he gets kind of upset when I leave him home. I never meant it to seem like I favored his company over yours. I love our time together, you'll talk to me about things that Stitch won't have anything to do with. Plus, we get to talk about him behind his back."

The two girls began to giggle, which lingered for a few moments before dying away into smiles. A brief silence once again over took them before Angel turned toward Lilo and gave her the opening that she had been hoping for.

"So was there anything you wanted to talk about now?"

Lilo pursed her lips and pretended to search deep in her mind for a topic; she didn't want to just jump right out with her question. She started to tap her fingers rhythmically on the steering wheel, adding to her ruse, all while Angel waited for her to respond. Finally, she thought of a way to approach the subject that would hopefully keep the female experiment from getting upset.

"Not really, I haven't had the time to let anything bother me. All this preparation for Kioko's return has been keeping me busy. I noticed that you've been keeping the kids busy these past few days, you trying to keep them from getting too worked up?" Lilo asked as she casually cast her bait.

"Actually, I haven't been making them do much. All that cleaning has been their idea."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I guess they want to show their uncle how much they've grown since he left."

"That's cute," Lilo's finger was on the trigger, "How about you? How are you holding up?"

The trap was sprung and, fortunately, it didn't seem to cause any ill effects. Angel got a distant look in her eyes as she rubbed her arm slowly. "I'm fine, I suppose, only a few butterflies in my stomach right now."

"Only a few? I would've thought you'd have a whole insectarium in there by now." Lilo joked with a sly smile.

"Why would you think that?"

"I don't know, it's just that," The young girl had to pause briefly to keep her excitement in check. Coaxing answers out of someone made her feel like a detective, "As close as you two were I thought you'd be a little more excited. I know if it were me and Stitch had left for two years you wouldn't be able to hold me still."

Angel gave a short laugh and then fell silent, threatening to derail Lilo's plan. However, she wasn't about to give up that easily and so she took the shot. "So is there a reason why you're so subdued?"

For a moment she seemed to be pondering the question, she took deep breathes through her nose as she stared out the windshield. However, the moment dragged on and Lilo began to feel like her question hadn't even reached the experiment. She was about to repeat her question when Angel finally turned to her with a peeved look on her face.

"Let me guess, you want to know about me and Kioko too?" Angel asked sharply.

"What, no I… I was just…" Lilo stumbled as she tried to regain control of her collapsing plan.

"Don't try and hide it, Lilo. I figured since Stitch was so curious, that you'd be curious as well. So I'll put one of your curiosities to rest. Yes, there are secrets between Kioko and me, but they are nothing you or Stitch or anyone else need to be concerned about. So can we please just drop the subject?"

Lilo was defeated; she could see it in Angel's eyes that she was nothing short of serious. She had failed, just as Stitch had. An awkward cloud immediately settled over the two of them. Fortunately, they soon arrived at the sandwich shop and the awkward cloud was dispersed. The two of them walked in to find the shop owner behind the counter, slicing up fresh ham with a smile on his face. He was a middle-aged man with thick, dark hair that perched atop a robust head. Hearing the bell on the door ring, the man looked up from his work and greeted the two girls with an even wider smile than the one he had just been wearing.

"Aloha, ladies! How are you today?" the man said with a welcoming wave.

"We're doing just fine, Mr. Cerini." Lilo smiled.

"We're just feeling a little hungry right now." Angel added.

"Oh well of course, what can I get you two?"

"We would like to try some of those new meat and pineapple sandwiches that 6-2-5 just came out with." Lilo said as she leaned forward against the counter with her hands and looked up at the menu.

Mr. Cerini chuckled slightly. "Well I'm afraid you might have to settle for something else. He's the only one who can seem to make them taste any good and he just clocked off."

"He clocked off already? Why so early?" Angel inquired with her head tilted.

"Because I have other engagements that require my presence." 6-2-5's voice chimed in from the other side of the counter.

A second later the tubby, yellow experiment came around from behind the counter dressed in a little coat jacket with a red bowtie. Both Lilo and Angel's jaws fell open with girlish "aww's".

"6-2-5, you look so adorable," Lilo praised as the experiment seemed to bathe him self in the attention.

"What's the special occasion? Are you getting some sort of gourmet sandwich award or something?" asked Angel.

"Nope, that's not it, although, that would be awesome. But no, actually, I have a date." 6-2-5 said proudly as he adjusted his tie.

"You have a date?" Lilo and Angel exclaimed in astonishment.

"You don't have to say it like that," 6-2-5 grumbled at the offense, "I do have other interests besides sandwiches. I'm not that one dimensional."

"So who's the lucky experiment?" Angel asked, as she seemed to find relief from her stress in 6-2-5's blossoming love life.

Everyone in the room could see the moment that the sandwich maker's love entered his head. A rosy glow washed over 6-2-5's face while he timidly looked away and adjusted his tie some more. "Well… this'll come as a surprise to you guys but… it's Bonnie."

"Bonnie?" Lilo and Angel once again let their surprise get the best of them.

"But isn't she with Clyde?" asked Lilo.

6-2-5 shook his head. "Not anymore. She told me that when they got thrown back in the slammer after some incident with her, Stitch, and the rest of your ohana there, Clyde started roughing her up pretty bad. They had to move them into separate cells and I guess they haven't spoken to one another since. She never told me why he started getting so rough though."

"It's sort of a long story," Angel told him.

"Poor Bonnie," Lilo said with a sympathetic shake of her head, "it must be terrible for her to be abandoned by her life long partner."

"It's ok though, because she has me now," 6-2-5 smiled, "which reminds me, I was hoping to talk with Stitch today. I wanted to ask him if he had any romance tips that I could use."

"You want romance tips… from Stitch? I wouldn't even bother," Angel said incredulously.

"But I thought he was always doing romantic things for you?"

"He tries, but usually it's hit or miss with him and more often it's a miss. Like the other night, he tried to give me a foot massage. All he did was punch the bottom of my feet, which made me glad that I didn't have to walk anywhere afterward. Then he wanted to try acupuncture using his claws, fortunately though, I managed to talk him out of it. In any case, you don't want to just rip off of other peoples ideas of romance, Bonnie would love it even more if it came just from you."

"Yeah, I guess that's true. Well then maybe he could give me some advice for when Bonnie and me have some time alone… if you know what I mean? I assume he has to have some good tips for that, because if he doesn't then I just don't see why you'd still be with him."

Mr. Cerini let out a hearty chuckle. "What's wrong 6-2-5, turning a little blue between the legs?"

"Shut up, Al!" the chubby experiment snapped back.

"I'm not going to tell you anything to that end," Angel said with a brow raised in mild disgust, "I'm not the kind of girl that talks about personal, intimate details."

6-2-5 just shrugged his shoulders in defeat. "Besides, I don't think Stitch is in the mood to share advice right now. He's a little worked up over Kioko coming back tomorrow." Lilo chimed in.

"Kioko's coming back tomorrow? Wow, for once he's on time." 6-2-5 said with a small laugh as he leaned back against the counter.

A look of confusion immediately washed over Lilo and Angel's faces. "What do you mean 'on time'?" the two woman once again said together.

"Ok, we need to stop that, it's getting freaky." Lilo said a she looked down at Angel.

But Angel was too focused on 6-2-5 to hear her. "Kioko was supposed to return after one year, it's been nearly two, how is that 'on time'?"

"One year? He told me two… wait, I remember now, he told me it was going to be two and that I wasn't to tell you guys. That's what it was."

Lilo could instantly sense 6-2-5's impending doom with just a glance at Angel's tightening fists. Before anyone could blink, Angel had 6-2-5 by the collar and was virtually lifting him off his feet. "He told you he was going to be gone for two years and you never said anything?" Angel yelled with a flash of her teeth.

6-2-5 was like a deer in the headlights, paralyzed with fear and confusion. His mouth desperately opened and closed in an attempt to shake loose the words from his tongue. "He told me not to, otherwise he'd kill me, but it looks like I'm screwed either way." He finally managed to squeak out.

"Why did he say he'd be gone for two years? Why would he lie to us and say he'd only be gone one?" Angel continued.

"Beats me, he didn't give me a real reason. All he told me was that there was something he wanted to do and that it'd probably take two years. He didn't want me telling you guys because he said it was meant to be a surprise."

Angel's expression faded back into confusion. "In the message he sent he said he had a surprise for us. What possible surprise would take him two years to set up?"

"I have no idea, it must be something big though. Now could you please let go of me, you're messing up the suit?"

Angel released her grip on 6-2-5 and took a step back. "Sorry," she said quietly, "I'm going to go wait in the car."

Angel turned around and walked out of the restaurant with her head hung low and her arms limp at her sides, a posture that she seemed to have perfected over the preceding days. Every eye remaining in the restaurant was pinned on the pink experiment as she opened the door and crawled up onto the passenger seat of the jeep.

"What's wrong with her?" Mr. Cerini asked with a voice full of fatherly concern.

Lilo gave a sigh through her nose as she watched Angel stare through the windshield and into space. "I wish I knew. She's been acting like this ever since Kioko failed to return last year, but lately it seems to be getting worse. Even his message that he was coming back didn't seem to help."

"That must mean she's upset with him about something. Probably the fact that he didn't come back when he said he would. That obviously ticked her off." 6-2-5 said as he once again adjusted his suit.

"Maybe."

"In any case, I know something that'll cheer her up," 6-2-5 announced as he walked back behind the counter and popped up wearing just a apron, "at least a little bit."

"Aren't you going to be late for your date with Bonnie?" Mr. Cerini asked disparagingly.

"This won't take but a minute, besides, she's in prison… she isn't going anywhere." The sandwich maker said with a mischievous smile before being slapped in the back of the head by Mr. Cerini.

The ride back home was just as silent as it had been going out. This time, however, Lilo left Angel to her thoughts and didn't try to talk with her. For the rest of the day and into the night, Angel seemed lost in her head, trying to solve some problem that no one else could see. Almost everyone in the family tried something to get her out of her slump, Jumba asked her for some advice on an experiment, Pleakley asked her opinion on his new outfits, and Stitch purposely misbehaved in an attempt to draw her attention towards himself. However, they were all unsuccessful and so she went to bed that night, just as quiet as ever.

The next day was the big day; Kioko would be returning that afternoon, yet the family saw little improvement in Angel's demeanor. While the family was busy rushing around getting the house cleaned and ready, Angel moved at a snail's pace. The rest of the family had eaten breakfast and had cleaned themselves up by the time Angel poured her first cup of coffee, which she had acquired a taste for recently. As with most of her behavior leading up until then, she left her family baffled. They had been preparing themselves to handle an overly excited, bouncing off he walls, and wide grinned experiment but instead, she acted like someone had just died.

"You think Kioko will feel bad if he sees her like this?" Nani asked her little sister as they watched Angel from the living room.

"If by 'bad' you mean 'guilty' then I'd hope so. When you think about it, she was probably his closest friend here on Earth. I can't imagine what was going through his head that made him think it was all right to lie to her about being gone for so long. I don't think any 'surprise' he could come up with can justify what he did."

"Yeah," Nani agreed, "I knew he could be a jerk sometimes, but this takes the cake."

"Cake, who took the cake?" blurted Stitch enthusiastically as he hung on the wall behind Lilo and Nani.

"It's a figure of speech, Stitch," sighed Lilo, "We're just trying to figure out why Kioko lied to us about how long he was going to be gone."

A sneer came over Stitch's face accompanied by a small growl. "That bastard, it's because of him that my buchi-boo is so depressed. I can't even remember the last time that she got a good night sleep. When he gets here I'm going to kick his patookie and make him beg for mercy!" Stitch said as his growl turned into an evil chuckle.

"As much as I'm sure you'd enjoy that, maybe we shouldn't say anything." suggested Nani.

"What? Are you crazy?" Lilo started to shout, but then turned down her volume.

"I can't just welcome him back with a smile and a howdy do." Stitch added.

"Just listen to me, I think maybe we should let Angel do any talking that needs to be done. If you think about it, she's the one who's been hurt by this the most. So it makes sense that she should be the one to talk to him about it. We may not like what he did, but if there is anyone who can make him feel guilty it's her."

"I guess that makes sense." said Lilo with a bob of her head.

"I'm still going to kick his patookie." Stitch grumbled through pouted lips.

A little while later, after finishing her coffee, Angel went up to her and Stitch's bedroom to finish her morning routine. Though by then it would have been more appropriate to call it her early afternoon routine. She tried to fool herself into believing that everything was fine, that nothing was bothering her. She brushed her fur like she always had, she brushed her teeth with the same toothpaste and the same left-right motion that she always had, and she tidied up the bed just like she always had. The only difference was that she gave herself a quick spritz of perfume, since it was an undeniably special day. But none of it helped, her mind remained as jumbled as ever. As she stared into her mirror and into her own eyes, she wondered if she would ever find relief from the suffocating pressure that was building on her shoulders. It all began to feel so large, so out of control, that a part of her doubted that just talking to Kioko would do anything. On some level she felt alone, trapped by a secret that she couldn't bring herself to share. But on another level, she knew that she hadn't lost the fight yet.

"Come on snap out of it," she commanded her reflection, "this isn't new to you, you've felt like his before. No, you've felt a lot worse than this before. But you made it through then and so you can make it through now. All you have to do is talk to him. If you confront him about it he'll have to tell you everything," Angel paused and averted her eyes.

"What if he just lies to me? He lied about how long he was going to be gone for and obviously he was keeping stuff from me about this damn scar, curse, or whatever the hell it is."

With no one else around, Angel's own body took it upon itself to keep her thinking straight. Her paw rose up and mercilessly smacked into her cheek.

"What am I saying? Kioko wouldn't lie to me like that, because he knows exactly what I'm going through. There's got to be some good reason why he hasn't told me everything. But I at least want to know what that reason is."

A firm expression pushed aside her doubts and was reaffirmed by a deep breath. "I'm just going to come right out and ask him. No hesitation!"

The pink experiment gave her reflection an acknowledging nod, but the moment her mind was made up she became distinctly aware of her then throbbing, sore cheek. She sunk away from the mirror whimpering, biting her lower lip, and rubbing her cheek. She suddenly felt very sorry for Stitch if just one of her slaps could hurt that much. However, the pain in her cheek would soon become insignificant, for at that very moment there came a knock at the front door. Like a dog whistle amongst a pack of dogs, the knock grabbed everyone's attention.

"He's early," Nani said with surprise, "it's not even three yet."

"Who cares? Someone get the door!" Lilo barked at her sister.

"You get it, he's your friend." Nani barked back.

Lilo, along with just about every other member of her family rushed into the living room and gathered around the door. There was another knock at the door as the family readied themselves.

"This is so exciting! I'm glad I remembered to charge my camera." said Pleakley with a big smile on his face.

"Come on, come on, open the door!" the kids said anxiously.

"All right, patience." Lilo said as she reached for the door.

She could feel her anxiousness building up inside of her like steam in a kettle. She could practically feel the anxiousness of her family members seeping from them as she placed her hand on the knob. To keep the pressure from getting out of control she grabbed the knob and yanked the door open as if she were tearing off a band-aid. But as the door opened and everyone gave a happy "hello" they realized that there was no one on the other side. A perplexed look quickly overcame the group. Lilo stepped out onto the porch and looked around for any sign of Kioko, but saw nothing. Nani and the kids stuck their heads out through the doorway and looked around for themselves and saw nothing either. Just then, the all too familiar sound of Kioko's voice grabbed their attention form inside the house.

"Is there something interesting out there?"

As if they were one entity, the entire Pelekai family turned around on their heels and found the space pirate sitting relaxingly in the middle of their couch. His legs were loosely crossed, his arms were stretched over the back of the couch, and he had a calm yet amused smile on his face.

"How… how did you…?" Lilo began to stammer from bewilderment.

"I told you I was going to get my edge back while I was gone." Kioko said as his smile turned into a grin.

The family's bafflement quickly turned into the appropriate excitement. For a moment, the kids reverted to their younger selves and ran over and jumped on their uncle before he had a chance to get up. They wrapped their arms around whatever part of him they could, while he tried to fit them all in a hug of sorts.

"I may be wrong about this, but I'd say they missed you." Nani said with a smile.

"I think you may be right," Kioko laughed, "and it feels like these munchkins may have gotten stronger since I left."

The kids finally broke from their visit to their younger days and let go of their uncle. "We're not 'munchkins' anymore, Uncle Kioko. We're grown up now." Oki explained with a serious expression.

Kioko gave a nod. "I see, well then I guess you guys won't want what I brought you."

The kids looked around to one another and then back to their uncle. "Well we're not totally grown up yet," Kina admitted, "I mean Ashley hasn't even had her…"

"Finish that sentence and I will end you," the young girl snapped, while her brother simply grinned.

"It's nice to finally see you again, Kioko," Lilo said with her arms crossed over her chest and one brow cocked in rebuke, "after you didn't show up last year we started to get worried."

Kioko chuckled slightly as he got to his feet; his grin remained intact despite the obvious displeasure in Lilo's voice. "I wanted to contact you and tell you that I was going to be gone a little longer than I had previously thought, but I never managed to find the time."

"In two years you couldn't find the time to send even one short, little message saying that you were going to be late? You know it wouldn't be so bad if you had just told us that you were going to be gone for two years, but I guess 6-2-5 was the only one you thought needed to know that,"

Seeing that her younger sister was on the verge of a tirade, Nani tried to step in before the reunion turned ugly. "Lilo, remember what we talked about," the older girl warned as she placed her hand on Lilo's shoulder.

"It's ok, Nani. Lilo has every right to be upset with me. I honestly don't know why I didn't tell you guys. Though when you see the surprise that I have in store I think you'll understand why I was gone for so long."

"It better be one hell of a surprise." Lilo growled.

"Believe me, it is," Kioko insisted with a big smile, "But before I tell everyone about my big news, I want to know how the rest of you are doing? Pleakley, have you managed to find a nice boy friend yet?"

"We haven't talked in two years and the first thing out of your mouth is a gay joke, classy." Pleakley said with a perturbed expression.

Kioko just shrugged and shifted his attention over to Jumba. "How about you, big guy? Come up with anything interesting lately?"

"Do you even need to ask? Evil genius is always coming up with interesting creation." the large alien said with a deep chuckle.

Kioko responded with a chuckle of his own. "You'll have to show me what you've come up with later," Jumba gave a nod as Kioko shifted his attention once again.

This time the pirate's eyes fell upon his small, blue-furred rival. The two stared each other down as if they were expecting the other to lunge at them. Stitch's upper lip quivered with the beginnings of a sneer as he watched Kioko's smirk grow. The two of them were silent for a moment, increasing the tension in the room to the point where Nani once again felt the urge to step in. But before she could say or do anything Kioko broke the tension on his own.

"It's been a long time, Stitch," Kioko said with a smile who's only purpose seemed to be to annoy the experiment, "you seem to be doing well. Tell me, have you gotten any stronger since I left?"

"What kind of question is that?" Stitch growled with his sneer fully formed.

"I'm just curious, plus I think it'd be disappointing if it turned out that you hadn't used my absence as an opportunity to better yourself. You have gotten stronger haven't you? Or have you given up on besting me?"

"Given up? There's nothing to give up. I am better than you and I always have been!"

Finding amusement in Stitch's claim, Kioko started to laugh louder, which only served to further irritate the experiment. "Shut up," Stitch yelled as he shook a fist at the pirate, "it's the truth, you're just in denial! You know you're jealous of me, just admit it! You…"

Stitch's irate ranting immediately stopped when Kioko suddenly quit laughing and looked past him. Confused, Stitch turned around to see what had caught Kioko's attention. When he turned around he found Angel standing motionless in the doorway. Her and Kioko had locked gazes and seemed to be in a totally separate world from the rest of the family. She had heard Stitch's yelling and had, at first, thought nothing of it until she made out the sound of Kioko's laughter. Fueled by the anxiousness that had been built up over nearly two years, Angel had raced downstairs faster than she ever had before. As she drew closer to the living room she had thought of how she was going to chew out Kioko about his lying. She had her yelling voice loaded in her throat and ready to be unleashed, but as soon as she had set eyes on him the voice vanished. The desire was there to lash out and pry from him the answers she so desperately sought, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. From deep in her heart her anger was overthrown by her longing for relief from her sufferings. As far as she could see, Kioko was the only one who could help.

Without warning, Angel dashed across the living room, nearly knocking Stitch over, and leapt up into Kioko's arms. Just as they had been able to feel the tension between Kioko and Stitch, the whole family could feel the anxiety melting off of Angel's shoulders. Her relief, in turn, allowed the others to breathe easier. However, the relief was relative for Stitch. While he couldn't feel happier that his mate had finally found the relief she needed, it infuriated him that she found that relief in the arms of another man. The blood boiled in his veins as he watched her hold herself as close to him as she possibly could, but he forced himself to maintain control. As much as he hated it, he had to let it happen.

Angel, on the other hand, couldn't have felt more comfortable. For the first time in a long time she actually felt relaxed. She buried her nose in his neck and took in every nuance of his scent, desperately trying to replace all the memories that had faded. She didn't realize it at first, but she started to purr as he slowly rubbed her back. She could feel his heart beat in his chest and each beat brought her farther from that dark place in her soul. It amazed her how such a simple sensation could do such good.

"I missed you," she whispered as a joyous smile crossed her face.

"I missed you too," he whispered back.

Angel let go of Kioko's neck and leaned back in his arms. "I really need to talk to you… as soon as possible."

"I kind of figured you would. We'll talk a little later, ok?"

Angel nodded and wrapped her arms around Kioko's neck once more, obviously not yet ready to let go of him. As she continued to enjoy herself Kioko looked around at the smiling faces of his family and decided that it was time.

"Well, since I've said all my hellos now, I guess it's time for me to reveal my little surprise," announced Kioko,

"Yeah, we've been trying to figure out what it is that could take you two years to get or set up or what ever and we couldn't come up with anything." admitted Nani.

"Did you find some ancient alien treasure map that led you to a treasure that would make the gods envious?" Oki asked eagerly.

"You're well traveled, did you find some new element that would be perfect for evil genius science?" Jumba inquired.

"Did you come up with some new, über powerful technique that'll dominate the galaxy?" Stitch wondered sarcastically.

Lilo gave a heavy sigh while holding up one finger threateningly. "Well, whatever it is, it better be one hell of a surprise because if it isn't…"

"I'm getting married."

Every word and thought in the room was silenced.

**I'm so sorry about how long it took me to write this. School was the main problem, but now that it's summer I'll have a lot more time to work. I hope you enjoyed the overdue chapter. Please review.**


	4. Unlikely Union

The Three Demons: Descent

By: Kioko the pirate

Chapter 4: Unlikely Union

The entire family couldn't have been more shocked if a bomb had gone off right in front of them. Kioko could only laugh as he looked around at their astonished faces. It seemed like somebody had pressed the "pause" button at the very moment that his news had registered in their heads. Sensing that it may take a moment for them to recover, Kioko shifted Angel over onto one arm, walked past the stunned family, and leaned against the bookshelf. He glanced at everyone's face to try and determine who was going to speak first. It was just a little trick he came up with to help his predictive abilities, but unfortunately for him, it was the one person he wasn't watching that finally got the world turning again.

"You're… getting… married?" Angel managed to say, though she found it hard to associate the words with the man.

Kioko looked at her, smiled, and said: "I am."

It wasn't long before the others awoke from their petrified state and found their voices. It became immediately apparent that they too, found it difficult to combine the idea of Kioko and marriage. At first, their mouths produced nothing but garbled nonsense, but at last the words started to flow.

"This has got to be a joke," Nani said as she looked at the pirate suspiciously.

"Why, why do you think it's a joke?" Kioko asked.

"Because you're the last person we can see settling down," Lilo finished for her sister.

"Yeah, I always pictured Lilo being the first one in this family to get married. Heck, I even pictured the triplets settling down before I even considered you getting married." Pleakley added.

"You pictured my little sister getting married first? What about me?" blurted Nani as she placed her hands on her hips.

Pleakley shrugged. "I just call it as I see it."

"Didn't you and Mom get married?" Ashley asked her father.

"Not officially," Stitch admitted, "we pretty much eloped."

"If you all won't take my word for it, I'll gladly show you proof that I'm tying the knot," Kioko offered, "if that's what it'll take to convince you."

The family looked around at each other for a moment and silently elected Lilo to be their spokeswoman. She was more than up to the task since she was, by far, the most suspicious about Kioko's little surprise. The young woman stepped up to the pirate, placed her finger on her lips, and looked him up and down. Instantly she noticed something.

"Ok, if you're getting married, where is your engagement ring?" Lilo asked as she pointed at his left hand.

"I don't have one," he said bluntly.

"Ah hah," Lilo exclaimed with a raised hand, "How can you be getting married without a ring?"

Kioko looked at her and shook his head slowly. "I'm not human, Lilo. I'm not having a human wedding. In a korigonian wedding there are no rings, instead we have necklaces."

"Ok then, where's your necklace?" Lilo asked as she noticed that his neck was bare.

"We don't get them until the ceremony," Kioko shot back.

Lilo was 0 for 2 and had only one last stop to pull. "All right, it was silly of me to assume that an alien culture would have the same traditions as ours, but there is one thing that they must share. Kioko, where is your bride?"

A confident smirk formed on Lilo's face as she stared Kioko dead in the eye. However, the pirate didn't blink and a moment later Lilo's last shot was knocked down.

"She's right here," declared a commanding female voice from just outside the front door.

With their curiosity unbounded, the family quickly turned toward the door and looked upon Kioko's new bride with awe. She was a tall, slender beauty, dressed from head to toe in black, with navy blue hair that flowed over her shoulders like a waterfall on a foggy day; her thin, elegant lips curled up in a self-aware smirk; her eyes sat like polished, black marbles over her finely crafted nose. For Lilo, Stitch, and Angel the woman seemed very familiar, but they couldn't quite place her. Then, all at once, it dawned on them.

"Hey, you're that police lady that came to help us at Pantucka's tower!" Stitch shouted as he pointed with his claw.

"Shemata, wasn't it?" Lilo guessed, half ready to blush if she got it wrong.

To Lilo's relief, Shemata gave her an affirming nod. "That's it, to be honest I'm surprised you could remember it. I don't know all of you, but let me see if I can remember those I do know," the young woman first pointed to Lilo, "Lilo," then she pointed to Stitch, "Stitch," she paused for a moment, "How am I doing so far?"

"Very well actually," said Lilo.

Shemata breathed a sigh of relief and then continued. She walked over and stood before Kioko, but her eyes were not on him, they were on the pink experiment cradled in his arms. "I'd be in big trouble if I forgot your name. As much as Kioko talks about you  
I almost feel jealous. It's nice to see you again, Angel,"

"It's nice to see you too," Angel said quietly as her mind struggled to make sense of what was going on.

"Listen, I know you've missed Kioko a lot, but promise me you'll let me have him for at least a few minutes, ok?" Shemata said playfully.

Angel could only bring herself to nod in response. Deep down she wasn't even sure if the woman smiling at her was real or just a strange illusion in her mind. The idea of Kioko getting married was so absurd to her that there was no way that it could be real. A part of her expected Shemata to disappear with a blink, perhaps she was merely a manifestation of her excitement to see Kioko again. But if that were the case, why would that excitement appear in the form of a woman who they had only briefly met. None of it made sense, and so she decided that it was all just a figment of her imagination. However, that idea was shattered when Shemata leaned forward and gave Kioko a quick kiss on the lips.

In that instant, Angel felt a wave of energy rush from her core and ripple throughout her body. Such an innocent kiss left the experiment with a sour taste in her mouth and a bitter feeling in her heart. She had no idea what the feeling was, but as the bride-to-be pulled away, impulse drove her to reassert herself as the top woman in Kioko's life by pressing herself tighter against his chest. To Angel's dismay, her action failed to draw Kioko's attention and instead only served to aggravate her worries about her scar. If Kioko became too caught up in getting married and in his bride, would he still be able to help her? Would he still want to? If by some chance he had found a way to bury the horrible feelings that define the scar, would he want to risk having them uncovered by helping her? After all, the venomous fangs of the curse only sunk deeper into ones soul when it's brutal existence was acknowledged. If he acted rationally, he would have nothing else to do with her curse, but this was not a time to act rationally, to do so would be selfish and would mean abandoning her to fend for herself. She couldn't picture him ever doing something so heartless and stupid to the one person who shared his pain. It was for this reason that she remained confident that, despite his changing life, she would remain a top priority in his eyes.

Kioko finished introducing Shemata to the rest of the family before they all sat down to listen to the story of how she came to be his fiancée. The two of them had run into one anther about two months after Kioko had left Earth. He had seen her attempting to chase down a criminal, who was of a species known for their excellent running abilities, and decided to give her a hand. Unfortunately, his idea of helping was to nearly knock the man's head off with a kick to the face. Other than being shocked by the pirate's sudden appearance, Shemata was outraged by what she thought was a mockery of not only her, but her division as well. She threatened to blow off Kioko's head with her pistol along with other violent threats that one would not expect to hear from a potential couple. Kioko only took these threats as a challenge and further interfered with her work when ever possible. He never did anything too damaging, no one on the police force was harmed, but what he did do, he did with an uncharacteristic, flirtatious attitude. Kioko's playful harassment continued for almost a year and no one was in more disbelief than her when she realized that she was growing used to him. For her it was about the equivalent of someone getting used to having Charles Manson hanging around at one's work, playing tricks on people. This pirate had been the worst criminal ever in Korigonian history; he had killed countless people, including a few that she had known personally, and people saw him as no less than the devil incarnate. So it boggled her mind that she seemed to be growing friendly with him.

Fortunately for her, no one else in her department knew about her contact with him. One day Kioko appeared in her office, uninvited as usual, and from out of nowhere asked her out on a date. From past to present, no woman had ever shot down a guy so fast. She saw his request as evidence that he thought of her as having such low moral value that she would have no problems with going out with a murderous pirate. This great insult had a grand effect on her temperament towards other convicts. She had been known for being rough with criminals before, but after Kioko's request she became increasingly aggressive, which resulted in the near death of a suspect. This incident led to her dismissal from the force, and though she took responsibility for her actions, she held Kioko to blame for ending her 20,000 plus year career. If only to confuse her further, Kioko apologized for everything and even tried to console her. At first she turned a blind eye to his efforts, but he was persistent, and the more he talked the more distant the monster's voice seemed to get. Once she stopped to actually listen, she didn't even feel like she was talking with a pirate anymore. He was a different man entirely. Even though she still thought it was crazy, she finally took him up on his offer and the two went on their first date. Her trust in him grew with each meeting, as did some feelings that Angel would have found familiar, until at last Kioko popped the question. It hadn't been too extravagant, Kioko knew that she wasn't the type of woman to be impressed by lavish things, but her reaction was that of a woman who had just been given the universe.

The couple's story left nearly every one in the family riveted, as well as they knew Kioko, the whole story seemed almost fantastical. The only one in the room who was not overly interested in the story was Angel, who had finally relinquished her spot in Kioko's arms and had taken a seat next to Stitch in a chair. Even though Stitch wasn't happy to have Kioko around again, he was pleased to see that he had a female of his own. Perhaps, she would keep him from having to compete with the pirate for Angel's affection. Plus, they would be sure to run into relationship problems, and since he was the only other coupled male in the family, Kioko would have no choice but to come begging for his help. At that time Stitch could flaunt his relationship knowledge over him. The thought brought a fiendish smile to Stitch's face, but Angel couldn't have smiled if she wanted to. All she could do was sit next to her mate, arms folded over her chest, and stare contemptuously at the woman tucked under Kioko's arm.

"That was a very sweet story, you guys," Lilo said with a smile, "But Kioko, I have to say it, you are a terrible flirt."

"Yeah, I've never heard of someone's flirting getting someone else fired." added Nani.

"That is nothing," Jumba said dismissively, "Jumba's flirting once caused ex-wife to catch on fire. Was only time she was actually 'hot stuff'… the _only_ time."

Kioko just shrugged. "What can I say, I tried. Out of all the experiences I've had in my life, Flirting is not something I've gotten much exposure to."

"So when's the big day? I'm sure there are tons of things you could use some help with. Shemata, if you still need a dress I can whip one up for you in a jiffy, need hors'devours, I'll make you something fit for a king!" Pleakley eagerly offered as he grabbed a notepad off of a nearby table and started jotting down ideas.

Kioko held his face in his hand and shook his head while Shemata stared at the cycloptic alien with a befuddled expression. "Ok, well I don't know what a hors'devours is, but our wedding is two weeks from now, and also there is no dress," said Shemata.

"No dress, don't tell me Korigonian weddings are preformed naked?" asked Nani concernedly.

Shemata laughed. "No, no, in Korigonian weddings the bride wears a ceremonial robe called a sakuwari and the groom wears a robe called a kozuwari."

"And I'm guessing your ceremony is going to be held on your planet?" the older girl continued.

"Yes it is," blurted Kioko, "but don't worry, Nani, we won't let you get eaten."

Nani stared at the pirate and his mischievous grin and shook her head. "You think that's funny don't you?"

Kioko gave a modest nod and then changed the focus from him and his bride over to the rest of the family. "Enough of our news, let's hear what you guys have been up to. How's that alchemy coming, Lilo?"

The atmosphere in the room instantly became subdued; no one knew how to tell him about Tokajo's attack, although they knew it was something he needed to know. Glances were passed between family members as they looked to, once again, elect someone to bare the unpleasant news. Unfortunately for Lilo, the fact that Kioko had addressed a question to her meant that she was the one who had to tell him.

"It's going good, I think you'd be surprised by how much I've learned since you left," Lilo said as she eased herself into the uncomfortable situation.

"With Stitch around I'm sure you've found plenty of situations to practice with," Kioko said teasingly as he glanced at the blue experiment.

"Can't you ever say anything nice?" Stitch said with his brows furrowed in annoyance.

"Actually, my alchemy was really put to the test shortly after you left,"

It wasn't hard for Kioko to notice that something was wrong as Lilo spoke to her lap rather than him. "What do you mean?" he asked.

Lilo kept her eyes focused on her knees for a moment before taking a deep breath and releasing it through her nose. The young woman finally raised her head and looked the pirate in the eyes. "A few months after you left we were attacked by a bounty hunter named Tokajo Gira along with experiment 6-2-7, who had some how become reactivated. For some reason they tried to kidnap Angel, but fortunately Stitch and the kids managed to defeat 6-2-7 and rescue her. I took on Tokajo by myself using my alchemy and managed to beat him, but not before taking a good hit of my own," Lilo reached up and pulled the collar of her shirt down to reveal the terrible scar running down from her shoulder. Kioko raised a brow in surprise while Shemata winced in empathy. "I was nearly killed, but I managed to use my own blood to form a spike that impaled him through the chest. It was a really close call though."

With Lilo's brief story complete, the family looked toward Kioko for his reaction. Finding out that Angel had been in danger while he was away would most certainly cast a dark shadow over his joyous news, but it was something he had to know. Given Kioko's tendency to be short tempered, everyone expected him to leap to his feet and send curse words firing off in all directions like some infuriated grenade. They could feel the fuse shortening as Kioko looked disbelievingly between Lilo and Angel, the explosion was coming any second. After a moment, Kioko exploded, but not with the anger they expected, instead he exploded into hysterical laughter. The family and Shemata were taken aback by the pirate's inappropriate outburst. Angel was especially bothered, of course who could blame her; the man she thought the world of had just heard that her life had been in peril and had started laughing like a maniac. Such a reaction could never be good, but soon after the reason for his laughter became apparent.

"So our innocent little Lilo killed a man, how exciting" Kioko exclaimed with great relish, "Tell me, was it a thrill for you? Did the smell of his blood make your heart race and long for more?"

Lilo couldn't answer, as her eyes locked onto his a strange and frightening feeling overcame her. She felt nauseas, panicky, and had to fight the urge to run and hide herself away. The feeling only grew stronger the longer she focused on the pirate's eyes. They glowed with a look that she had never seen before. The normally tranquil orbs filled to the brim with madness and reflected every dark deed he had ever committed. Combined with his monstrous grin, Lilo felt as though her very soul was in danger of being ripped asunder. However, before her heart could crack under the vile pressure, Kioko's gaze was broken when Shemata's hand came down between them like a barrier.

"Kioko, focus!" Shemata commanded in a voice more fitting of a commander than a fiancée.

The pirate's twisted grin disappeared and his eyelids drooped as if he were coming out of a trance. Lilo felt the weight lift from her body as it left her panting in exhaustion. The young girl had to hold onto her seat to keep from falling over. She had never felt anything so terrifying in her life and yet Kioko let out a sigh like he had just been holding his breath. Shemata gave the pirate one last look over before lowering her hand and rubbing his shoulder.

"I'm sorry about that," Kioko said with an embarrassed laugh while he wiped his brow with the back of his hand, "I got a little carried away. I wasn't expecting to find out something like that, though that is exactly the reason I gave you that alchemy book."

Kioko was the only one who found anything worth laughing about. Almost every brow in the room was furrowed in confusion, while every eye beneath those brows looked upon him with the slightest flicker of fear.

"Carried away? He's never gotten carried away like that before," Stitch mumbled to him self as he scrutinized every little detail in Kioko's smirk, "Something isn't right here, I just know it."

Angel also looked upon the pirate with scrutiny, but her perception of what had happened was far different from her mate's. The small embers of jealousy burning in her heart led her to see Shemata, not Kioko, as the suspicious one. Rationality turned to ash upon those embers and left her unable to even consider another plausible explanation.

'I've never seen Kioko act that way before,' the pink experiment thought as she looked concernedly upon the pirate and then harshly upon the blue haired woman, 'what the hell just happened? No, more importantly, how did she know what to do? She handled it as if it were something that happened all the time, but I know that isn't the case. She must be doing something to him, but what is it?'

Concerned by what had just happened to her sister, Nani sat next to her and began to briskly rub her back. "Well before you get carried away again you should know one major detail," Nani spoke, her voice shook, "Lilo didn't kill that man."

A puzzled expression came over Kioko's face. "But I thought she said she impaled him through the chest?"

Nani gave a nod. "She did, but apparently that wasn't enough to stop him. When we went out to remove his body from the driveway it was gone."

"That doesn't necessarily mean he was still alive and just walked away," Kioko commented.

"He's right, I've read Tokajo Gira's profile several times before and there was never any indication that he was strong enough to do something like that," Shemata agreed as she held her chin in thought, "Could it be possible that someone took his body?"

"Who would just walk up and take a body impaled on a huge spike?" Pleakley asked in doubt.

"I don't think anyone did take his body," Ashley spoke up, "When we looked around later that night we didn't see any blood trail, in fact, the only blood around was on the spike. If he was taken or even if he walked away, you'd expect a wound like that to be bleeding badly."

"Well if no one took him and he didn't walk away, what happened to him?" Nani said with frustration brewing in her voice.

Unfortunately for her, no one could give an answer and so she only received befuddled looks in return.

"This is nothing to worry about," said Kioko with an amused chuckle, "If he is dead, there is no need to concern ourselves with the matter. If, on the other hand, he is still alive, then Lilo will just have to get stronger."

The young girl, who had just managed to catch her breath, felt Kioko's eyes on her once again, but this time she did not make eye contact. She leaned her head back and cleverly held her eyes half open, this blocked the top of Kioko's face from view and yet made it seem like she was only doing it from exhaustion.

"Why would _I_ have to get stronger," Lilo asked snappishly, 'what about other members of this family?"

"If Tokajo really is alive somewhere, once he gets his strength back he's is going to come for you specifically. He won't care about anyone else, it was you that defeated him, and so it's you that he'll want to beat first." Kioko explained.

"What kind of childish thinking is that?"

Kioko laughed harder. "Welcome to the rules of the universe, my dear girl. This is just the sort of thing that dominated my life for more than 30,000 years. When you defeat a strong opponent in a fight and they do not die, you become an obsession to them. In defeating them you take away their pride and the only course of action they see to win back that pride is to annihilate you the next time they see you. If he is still alive, I can assure you that Tokajo will return stronger than he was before, so I would suggest that you make yourself stronger as well. He knows your powers now; he won't fall for the same trick twice, so he'll aim to make his first cut fatal."

Lilo sneered slightly; she didn't appreciate his bluntness on the subject of her dying in a fight. "Well, while I didn't put much thought into Tokajo coming back, I did think ahead in case I had to defend my Ohana again. I've started planning a little something with Jumba that will allow me to make transmutations in battle more efficient and more practical."

"That's a good start," Kioko said with a pleased nod, "But remember, getting a new weapon or technique is only part of being prepared. You've still got to learn how to use it effectively."

A strange tension followed Kioko's words. It flowed under the surface of their hearts, like a ripe tide under a calm ocean. The tension was so strong that it bent their perceptions of the feelings they felt upon hearing of his return. It was as though they doubted whether or not their excitement was founded. They had been fine with him getting married, but the change of behavior that seemed to come with it was unsettling. The only solid belief they had was that something about him had changed. At that instant the antique clock on the wall chimed, but Shemata seemed to be the only one who noticed. Her apparent immunity to Kioko's gaze and her lack of connection to the family left her out of the tide.

"If I'm reading that clock right, it's already close to six," she said as she placed her hand on Kioko's shoulder, "If you want to get around to inviting everyone I'd suggest we get moving."

"It's amazing how time flies when you're catching up with friends," Kioko said as the uncharacteristically happy tone returned to his voice, "But I suppose we must go. So here's the plan, in two days we will return to pick you up, kind of short notice, but I'm sure you guys can handle it. Expect to be gone for at least two to three weeks, due to Korigon's slower rotational speed, one week there will be a little over two here."

"Won't that cause us some problems? Like a serious case of jetlag?" Nani asked curiously.

Shemata shook her head. "Most alien species don't have any problem adapting to Korigon's time table."

"Alien species?" Nani blurted. She sounded offended.

"Yes Nani, believe it or not, on our planet it is you who are the aliens. In fact you should feel proud about that. You'll be one of the first humans ever to set foot there. When we were chasing down Pantucka, Lilo earned the title as first ever human to go to Korigon, but you can be the second." Kioko said as he and Shemata rose to their feet.

Out of courtesy, everyone else got to their feet and followed the couple as they headed for the door. A quick round of hugs followed before the door was opened and Kioko and Shemata started to make their way out.

"It was really nice meeting all of you," Shemata smiled, "you have a very lovely planet."

"It was very nice to meet you too." Nani responded with a polite smile.

"I can't wait to see what your wedding will be like," Pleakley said excitedly, "Remember, if you need anything, give me a call."

The noodly alien pulled a business card out from behind his back and placed it in the former officer's hands. She thanked him for the offer and as soon as Pleakley turned his back, she crumpled the card and tossed it over her shoulder.

"I'm sorry we can't stay longer, but we'll have more time to catch up in a few days," Kioko said with his friendly smile still stuck on his face, "Maybe then I can get a demonstration of your new, alchemic powers."

"We'll see," Lilo said bluntly as she folded her arms over her chest.

"Come on, come on, we've got to get moving," Shemata said with rapidly falling patience.

Kioko sighed as the ex-police woman gave one last goodbye to the family then turned and walked away. "You can see why she was so loved on the force," said Kioko sarcastically, "We'll see you all in a couple of days then, have a goodnight."

The family waved goodbye as the pirate turned and walked down the front steps. Angel however, wasn't ready to say goodbye for even just a few days. Despite having been wrapped in Kioko's arms for a good hour, she didn't feel ready to let him leave yet. Not to mention her worries about her scar felt untouched, as if Kioko hadn't paid them any mind. Fearing that his mind was, indeed, too tied down by his new bride, she ran forward to try and catch him and remind him that she needed help. The pink experiment slipped past Lilo and Nani's legs and bounded down the stairs. She caught the pirate as he was about to step onto the last section of stairs.

"Kioko," she shouted, though not loud enough for her family to hear, "please, before you go I really need to talk to you. Weird things have been happening lately with my scar and they're starting to scare me. I need you to be honest with me, what will happen if I lose control?"

Kioko stopped mid-step, but did not turn to look at her. He was silent for a moment, save for a light sigh through his nose, his head fell slightly. "Are you still alive," the pirate finally asked in a stern voice that was more fitting of his typical personality.

"W-what," Angel stammered in surprise.

"Have you killed anyone,"

"N-no, w-what are you…?"

"Then there's no need for you to worry right now," Kioko said in what was probably the most upbeat tone he'd used all night. The pirate turned around with a big smile, knelt down to Angel's level, and placed his hands on her shoulders, "You shouldn't concern yourself with what might happen, because just so long as you keep up your meditation and the other mental exercises I taught you, it doesn't need to happen."

"That's just it though, I've been doing all those things and it just seems to keep getting worse. I-I'm afraid that I'm starting to lose it."

"You're not losing it, Angel. Believe me, if you were losing it, things would be a lot worse,"

"How, how would they be worse? Please, tell me!" Angel begged as she held onto Kioko's arms.

Kioko leaned forward, placed his forehead against Angel's, and looked her right in the eyes. "Listen, this is neither the time nor the place to talk about this," Kioko's voice suddenly took on a very gentle rhythm, "but I promise you, the first good chance we get, me and you can talk all you want, ok?"

"Come on, you rotten pirate, get your ass in gear!" Shemata yelled from the driveway.

Kioko pulled his head back and looked toward the woman. "Watch the sweet talk, honey, you might give someone diabetes," Kioko yelled in sarcasm before turning back to Angel, "Nothing bad is going to happen to you or your family. It may feel worse, but it's nowhere near a level that you need to worry about, I can tell just by looking at you. So try and relax, everything will be fine."

The pirate kissed Angel on the forehead and then got to his feet. He gave her one last smile of confidence and then turned and walked away. Angel stood there and watched him leave, the whole time she felt cheated of her answers once again, but at the same time she felt a little relieved. Even after two years, his words still had the power to calm her nerves. However, she couldn't help but feel worried by his first questions.

**After a long time the chapter is finally completed. Vacations and a new girlfriend got in the way of this one. I know I say it every time, but I'll try to have the next one up sooner. Please review.**


	5. Sparks

The Three Demons: Descent

By: Kioko the pirate

Chapter 5: Sparks

Less than an hour remained on the clock before Kioko was to return to take the whole family away to his and Shemata's wedding. Most of the house was quiet as everyone was in their rooms packing for the trip. Lilo had been the only one with the common sense to pack the night before and so she watched, with mild amusement, as her older sister hurried around her room packing with feverish haste. Though her speed made it appear that she was excited to leave, her attitude towards flying off to another planet was less than gracious. She was not above letting her little sister know it either.

"I can't believe you're making me go into space," Nani complained while throwing shirts carelessly into her bag, "I'm no astronaut, my feet are meant to remain firmly planted on terra firma."

"Oh come on, Sis! I've been to space dozens of times it's fun. Besides, you need a vacation; you haven't left Hawaii since we went to Graceland after Stitch got here."

"Traveling thousands of light years to another planet is not my idea of a vacation. Walking around on that planet, we're going to be surrounded by aliens who will be staring at us like some circus sideshow. Just thinking about it makes my skin crawl."

"It'll be fine, Nani," Lilo said with a laugh, "just make sure you don't wear any perfume that could make you smell tasty."

Nani paused and shot her sister a dirty look. "That's not funny, in any case, aren't you a little nervous about going somewhere with Kioko after he… snapped like that?"

Lilo's face grew stiff and serious yet she kept an air of unconcern about her. "I don't know why he acted that way," the young woman spoke with bold determination, "but I want to find out."

"Why would you want to find out?" Nani asked with surprise.

"Because he's ohana and as we are his ohana it is our duty to be there for him if he needs us. The only reason that I can think of that would make him act that way is that he's in trouble somehow. I have no idea what that trouble may be, but just looking at the way that Shemata reacted to his behavior, I can tell that he's dealing with something."

Nani sighed through a smirk and shook her head; her sister's level of carrying never ceased to amaze her. "You've got a good heart, kiddo, no denying that, but part of me thinks your crazy."

"Only a part of you? Aren't you convinced of my craziness yet?" Lilo joked with a goofy grin on her face.

Meanwhile, up in Stitch and Angel's room, Angel quickly leapt between her dresser and her suitcase, which sat on the bed behind her. There wasn't so much an excitement or eagerness behind her actions, as much as there was a suppressed hostility. Just like Nani, she grabbed garments from the drawer and tossed them, almost carelessly, into her suitcase. What seemed to frustrate her more was the fact that Stitch's suitcase sat virtually empty next to hers, save for one tiny thing.

"Would you quit messing around, Stitch," Angel said sharply, "We've got to be ready soon."

Stitch's head immediately popped up out of his suitcase with a pout on his lips. "I don't see why we have to pack anything, we don't wear clothes all that often. I've got my suit in here and that's all I can really see me needing for this trip."

"We're packing our clothes so that we can show Kioko's new bride that we can be classy. I don't want her thinking poorly of us." Angel explained with an irritated huff.

Stitch's head fell to the side as his brow puckered with concern, Angel's unusual moodiness hadn't escaped his eye over the past days. Ever since Kioko arrived she had been acting like a woman scorned, but she refused to give any hint as to what caused her ill temper. Keeping her feelings secret appeared to be a new trend for her, which only served to annoy Stitch. Ordinarily, he wouldn't bother trying to figure out the reasoning behind her inexplicable changes in emotions, he had given up on that after her moods started to swing wildly during her pregnancy, but now that she refused to talk about what was bothering her, it caught his attention.

"Angel, what's wrong?" Stitch asked as he crawled out of the suitcase.

"What do you mean? Nothing's wrong." Angel responded as she paused for a moment to check what she had packed so far.

"Come on, please don't start this again. I know something is bothering you," Stitch crawled over and took Angel's paws in his, "Please tell me what it is."

Angel stopped and looked her mate right in the eyes. "What do you think of Shemata?"

Stitch's brow shot upward from surprise while his mouth flapped about in an attempt to make words. "I… think she's fine. I mean she's a nice woman and she seems to make Kioko happy, so I guess you could say I like her."

Angel stared at Stitch a second more as her upper lip twitched into a light sneer. She yanked her paws from his and turned sharply toward her dresser. "What, what'd I say?" Stitch asked as his ears fell behind his head.

"Doesn't it come off as a bit odd to you that a former police officer would just up and abandon her values to protect society and marry a space pirate?" Angel snapped as she turned back to face Stitch.

"Well yeah it's odd, but going by her reputation in the force, you know being a little too rough, her and Kioko being together becomes a little more believable." Stitch admitted with a shrug.

The pink experiment placed her paws on her hips and lifted her brow in astonishment. "Believable, you think them being together is believable?"

"Yeah I do," Stitch then started to pick up on his mate's feelings, "don't you?"

"No," Angel exclaimed, "no I don't! It just doesn't make any sense to me. Kioko's lived for thousands of years by himself with no desire for companionship, so I can't believe that in less than two years he's changed so much that'd he'd want to take a wife."

"I hate to say this, I really do, but before he left you and him were spending a lot of time together. Maybe being with you so much made him want to find a buchi-boo of his own?" Stitch said as he once again grimaced at the thought of Angel and Kioko's close friendship.

An offended look washed over Angel's face. "Are you saying that I may be the reason that woman is in our lives now?"

"I'm saying it's a possible explanation." Stitch said with a nod.

Angel's offended look deepened as she took a few threatening steps toward Stitch. "How dare you…"

"What's the problem," Stitch finally snapped back, "why are you acting like this? What do you have against Shemata?"

"I don't trust her," Angel fired back and took Stitch by surprise. The female experiment held her arms against her chest and turned away form Stitch once again, "I've just had this feeling that I can't explain. It's been burning me up inside ever since she got here. Something just doesn't seem right about her and I don't understand how the rest of you can't see it."

"You do remember that she helped save us from Pantucka don't you?" said Stitch with his head tilted.

"I don't care, I know she's up to something! Before he left, Kioko never got carried away like that, but now she shows up and he's changed. What other explanation is there? Just look at the way she handled him, it was like she was training him to behave the way she wanted," Angel's lower lip quivered as if she were on the verge of tears, "I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm keeping a close eye on her. If she's trying to do something to him, I'm going to stop it… with your help or not."

With those final words Angel turned and hurried out of the room. With his head held low and his ears draped somberly over his slumped shoulders, Stitch let out a heavy sigh. An unsettling distance seemed to be growing between him and Angel. It was a distance fed by the secret life that her and Kioko shared, a life that, no matter how hard he tried, Stitch could not get her to open up about. Just as Angel blamed Kioko's problems on Shemata, Stitch could only blame Angel's problems on Kioko. As far as Stitch was concerned, it was Kioko who needed to be watched carefully.

A short while later the family had gathered in the living room to wait for Kioko to arrive. They mainly talked about what it will be like to set foot on another world, though for Jumba and Pleakley it was rather mundane thought. Instead, they shared their memories of their first travels to other planets and gave the rest of the family tips on dealing with the new environment. The remainder of the conversation obviously covered Kioko's, still shocking, marriage announcement. While virtually everyone had his or her comments on the subject, Angel remained silent and appeared to resent the discussion. Stitch tried his best to break her out of her sour mood, but neither cuddling nor playful talk had any measurable effect. Her mood only brightened when the house began to shake and the roar of engines cut through their talk.

"What the hell, is he landing on the house?" Nani exclaimed as she braced a lamp, that sat beside her, from tipping over.

"He must not be concerned about people seeing the ship!" Pleakley shouted through the engine noise.

As everyone got up and made for the door, the sound of the engines lowered to a smooth whirring. They opened the door and were immediately blasted by a wave of dust kicked up by the ship. The moment the sand blasting subsided they looked to see a large ship sitting in their driveway. It wasn't the same ship that Lilo and Stitch had traveled in years earlier, it was a much less sleek and agile looking ship that looked like it belonged in a scrap heap. It had a tall, slender, and box shaped hull that couldn't have been more then fifteen feet wide. Two stubby, upward angled wings protruded from the back, positioned just below a twin boomed tail with a large engine held between the tails. The only visible sign of a cockpit was a narrow, glass panel at the front of the ship, through which, the family saw faint signs of movement. The family gathered around the backend of the ship just as a large door dropped down at their feet to reveal Kioko standing in the doorway with his classic smirk on his face.

"Are you just not caring about people calling the police to report a space ship landing in their neighborhood?" Nani chided as she folded her arms over he chest.

Kioko laughed and walked down the ramp formed by the door. "I don't care because I don't intend to be here long. So if you all wouldn't mind quickly loading your stuff on board we'll be on our way." Kioko said with a tone of urgency in his voice.

Not wanting to cause a stir, everyone save for Lilo and Stitch hurried off to fetch their things. The two friends hung back for a minute and looked over the ship. "This isn't the same ship we took last time." Lilo commented as she tapped on the rust colored hull with her knuckle.

"Well of course it's not," Kioko said as he leaned against the ship, "I couldn't fit everyone in the ship we took last time."

"You plan on flying us to Korigon in this hunk of junk?" Stitch asked as he crawled up the side of the ship and investigated the engine.

"No, this is just a shuttle that will be taking us to the main form of transportation," the pirate explained, "I'd be careful around that engine, Stitch. It has a tendency to flare up."

Stitch waved off Kioko's warning as his crawled on top of the engine and hung his head down in front of the exhaust. Just as Kioko warned, the engine momentarily sprung to life and blasted the experiment in the face with a fiery blast. Lilo winced when Stitch fell to the ground, his head smoldering like a burnt marshmallow.

"God dammit!" Stitch cursed as he sat up.

"He warned you, silly," laughed Lilo as she extinguished a tiny flame on the tip of his ear with her fingers.

A few minutes later the family had loaded their luggage onboard the cramped ship and made their way up to the cockpit. To reach the upper deck they all had to climb a ladder threaded through a tube only slightly wider than a manhole cover. Given his size, Jumba was the last person to climb up. He had to fight against his own size for every rung, after five minutes his head finally popped up out of the hole.

"I can not believe that powerful pirate would be having such tiny ship," Jumba groaned as he wriggled to push his shoulders up out of the whole, "have not had to squeeze through this tight a place since evil genius was being born."

As Lilo sat down on one of two long benches that ran along either side of the cockpit, she passed a disbelieving glance at the scientist. "You remember being born?" she asked skeptically.

"Of course, can't everyone?" Jumba responded flatly.

Lilo had nothing more to say and so buckled herself in. A minute later Jumba had pulled himself up into the cockpit and slumped exhausted, onto the bench. With the family buckled in, Kioko sat down at the ship's controls and began preparing for take off. A knot formed deep in the stomachs of each family member as the unreliability of the ship became more apparent when Kioko had to bang his fist against the controls to get them to start.

"We're going to die aren't we?" Nani asked with a nauseated tone.

"Come on, Nani, have faith. Just because this ship is older than your country's constitution doesn't mean it's not reliable," Kioko said with a reassuring smile.

"It smells funny in here," Ashley blurted as she sniffed around.

"That's just because the species that built this ship breathe a mix of nitrogen and methane. Sadly, I was never able to get the smell out," Kioko explained as the ship began to rock from the force of the engine coming to life, "Alright, everyone hold on tight, we're getting out of here!"

The family braced themselves on the edge of the benches as the ship slowly rose into the air. They watched as the roof of their house sunk below the controls of the ship and the green mountains of the island roll by as the ship spun around. The front of the ship rose up into the air and then, despite it's decrepit state, rocketed off into the sky. Everyone on the benches fell over onto one another like dominoes. The kids squealed with delight as they were squeezed between Nani and Jumba.

"Gee honey, I know it's hard for you to keep your hands off of me, but our kids are watching." Stitch said with a sly smile as Angel was pressed against him.

The female experiment needn't say a word, a discontented look from the corner of her eye was all it took to make Stitch wither in his seat and duck his head like a scorned child.

After several minutes the force of take off subsided and the dark abyss of space faded into view. "So where is our actual ride?" Lilo asked as she unbuckled and walked up to Kioko.

"It's just on the other side of the moon, we'll be there in about fifteen minutes," Kioko said as he kept his hands busy on the controls.

"I do find it fascinating that this, almost ancient, hunk of junk can make the trip from the Earth to the moon in a fraction of the time it took our people to get there." said Nani as she looked around the tiny ship.

"Oh, just give your species some time and you'll get to where my species is." Kioko said with a laugh.

The conversation petered out soon after and the family sat in silence and watched as the moon passed by them. The moon's shadow slowly enveloped the small craft while Kioko steered it toward what seemed like empty space. Seeing that fifteen minutes was almost up, Lilo got up, walked over to the pirate, and peered out into the sea of shimmering flakes of light before her. She expected it to be hard to spot a ship amongst the darkness and stars, but no matter how hard she looked she couldn't see anything.

"Didn't you say we'd be at the ship right about now?" The young girl asked as she squinted to try and spot even the slightest sign of a ship.

"We _are_ about there," Kioko answered.

"Then where is this thing?"

"Just watch," Kioko said with a devious little smirk on his face. The pirate reached over across the controls and typed a serious of characters in them. With a final, definitive tap of a button he leaned back in his chair and pointed out the window. "Keep your eyes straight ahead," he instructed.

Stitch, Angel, and the rest of the family joined Lilo up front as the stars ahead of them seemed to become clouded by an invisible mist. Individual stars began to fuse together as the distortion grew stronger; their light became brighter for a brief second before fading into a black mass. The black mass then began to peel away, revealing the rough, brown hull of a ship. After a second the entire ship was visible, it stretched across their entire field of view, a large ship shaped like a double-pronged arrowhead with two, overlapping hills toward the rear that they could only assume was the command area. The ship continued to get larger with every passing second until at last they were right next to it and the ships truly monstrous size became apparent. Their jaws fell agape at the sight; tiny antennas that they had seen from afar had become as large as a house, the tiny bumps became jagged peaks and plateaus that fell into deep ravines with rivers of light at the bottom.

"Everyone, welcome to my ship, the Koroku," Kioko announced with a proud voice.

"It's huge!" Pleakley exclaimed as his eye nearly popped out of his head.

"That's your ship," Lilo blurted in disbelief, "Just yours? No one else rents a room in that damn thing?"

"Yup, just mine. She's probably the crowning achievement of my pirating days. I stole her right from underneath the empire's nose. She was supposed to be their flagship, but I kind of spoiled that plan," Kioko explained as he brought the ship underneath the Koroku.

"What empire are you talking about? I thought it was called the Galactic Federation?" Nani asked as she continued to stare up at the mighty ship.

"I'm talking about the Korigonian Empire. The galaxy that you know as the Milky Way is split into three ruling governments, the Galactic Federation, Korigonian Empire, and the Taleric Union. Together they form the Pan-Galactic Confederation, a galaxy wide united nations as it were. Each government handles a larger function with in the confederation. The Galactic Federation handles the political matters, the Korigonian Empire is the military force, and the Taleric Union is the economic center." Kioko said as he began to bring the ship up toward a large, square opening in the bottom of the ship.

"Why have we only really heard about the Galactic Federation then?" Nani continued to ask.

"That's because Earth sits within Federation territory, they have jurisdiction over planet and so other governments aren't allowed to be interfering with human race without permissions." Jumba clarified as he held up an enlightened finger.

Nani gave a slight nod and then fell into silence along with her family as they watched their ship rise up into the giant vessel. The rickety ship shook as they passed through an invisible barrier meant to keep the harsh void of space at bay. They then found themselves in a cavernous hanger that seemed to stretch for, at least, a mile in all directions. Nothing on the ship appeared to be less than grand in scale; even the simple rafters that ran across the ceiling were as thick as a red wood tree and similar in shade too. It was obvious that one of the ship's key design features was its shock-and-awe value. Kioko flew the ship through the vast, empty hangar and finally brought it to a rest near a series of large blast doors.

It took close to another half hour to unload everyone from the ship for as hard as it was for Jumba to get up the tiny ladder, it was no easier going down. Stitch and Kioko did try to hurry the process along by trying to pull the plus-sized scientist down through the tube, but even they're incredible strength couldn't hurry the process along without the risk of the evil genius losing a leg. After Jumba managed to wriggle himself free they made their way through the blast doors and down a hexagonal corridor that stretched beyond their sight. Rows of amber light ran along the floor and ceiling, bathing the metal, earth-toned walls in a haunting twilight. After minutes of walking, they started to zigzag through the ship, the distant hum of the ships inner workings the only sound, as the group spoke not a word. After several more minutes the family came upon a small, circular lift. Everyone managed to squeeze in, a task once more made difficult by Jumba's girth, before the lift rocketed upwards. Most of the family was nearly knocked to their knees by the force.

No sooner where they back to their feet that they were nearly thrown to the ceiling as the lift came to a sudden halt. There were irritated grumbles in the air as the doors opened with a hydraulic kiss. The grumbling got louder as, to their further dismay, they found themselves staring down another endless hallway. Resuming his lead, Kioko stepped out of the lift and started down the corridor.

"You know, I knew this was going happen the moment I saw how huge this place was," Nani complained as her and the rest of the family followed the pirate out of the lift, "why couldn't an advanced alien civilization come up with a more efficient mode of transportation around a city sized ship? All this walking is exhausting."

Kioko chuckled. "This ship is twenty-two miles long, eight miles at the widest point, and you just traveled five and half miles up in about a minute. Not to mention that this ship was designed to carry a crew of over a hundred thousand, so I'd say efficiency was in mind. Trust me, after awhile this ship will begin to feel a lot smaller."

"Considering it only takes a half hour to get to your planet, this does seem a bit excessive," Lilo admitted as she glanced down another corridor.

"Well actually, it's going to take a little longer than a half hour this time," Kioko said as he rubbed the back of his head and gave his family another strange toothy grin, "An inter-spatial storm formed in between our two planets and so we have to go around it. The trip is going to take roughly two days."

"Storm is that big is it?" Jumba questioned.

"It is, and it's been there for some time. I wouldn't be surprised if it's why you couldn't reach me when that bounty hunter attacked."

"And what exactly would happen if we flew through that storm?" Nani asked with morbid curiosity.

Kioko seemed to take the question into serious thought for a second. "Well, this ship is probably sturdy enough to survive it and I know I'd survive, but you guys… first you'd be radiated to the point that your skin would start peeling off right down to the bare muscle and then you'd slowly start to decay one molecule at a time until you're nothing but a pile of mush." Kioko said with an inappropriate smile on his face.

The pirate laughed as he watched the woman's face twist into an expression that screamed of her regret in asking the question. A few minutes later they could see the corridor end at two more huge blast doors, though these doors were emblazoned with golden, alien writing that fell from the top of the door down like regal rain. Though few of them knew the language, they all came to the assumption that they had at last reached the bridge.

"You may leave your luggage out here for now," Kioko said as he turned to face the family, "Shemata and I will show you to your rooms shortly. First I want you to meet your only other fellow guest onboard, plus, I think you'd really find the bridge impressive."

With a cheesy grin stretched across his face, Kioko turned around and placed his hand flat against the doors. A quick wave of yellow light flashed over the surface of the doors and then they began to open. Slowly the monolithic doors retreated into the walls on either side of the corridor and revealed a bridge like nothing they had ever imagined. They felt like they were stepping into a giant amphitheater with level upon level of control consoles rising from floor to ceiling, all facing a massive, IMAX style view screen. A swarm of holographic monitors floated through the air, following their invisible paths and displaying the all the vital signs of the ship. Kioko led the family further out into the bridge, where it became apparent that they were close to the top of the bridge. Ahead of them was a single, large chair, surrounded by a circular control panel. The chair swiveled around and reveled Shemata sitting with her legs crossed and her fingers laced over her lap with a fiendish smirk on her face.

"Welcome to our domain," the woman announced as she gestured to the space around her, "I hope you're comfortable, for you shall never escape!"

The family looked on with dumbfounded expressions as Shemata threw her head back and gave her best attempt at an evil laugh. "I've told you this before, Honey, you're marrying a pirate, not a Bond villain." Kioko said with a smile.

"A what villain?" she asked as she got up off the chair and walked over to her soon to be husband.

The two wrapped their arms around one another and shared a quick kiss. It was a sweet sight, but out of the corner of his eye, Stitch could see Angel biting her lower lip as she stared at the two lovebirds with unblinking, covetous eyes. The blue experiment's ears fell to his shoulders, led by the sorrowful tugging in his heart, he walked over to her and reached up to take her paw, but as he did an unfamiliar voice called out and broke Angel's gaze.

"I swear, the two of you are going to make me sick if you keep it up," said a man with a business-like swagger in his voice. He was a clean-cut man, with slick auburn hair pulled back tight against his head, draped down into a ponytail. He was dressed in an almost entirely white suit with a black undershirt and tie adding the only color to his attire. He casually walked over to the family with one hand in his pants pocket and the other clasped around a drink. He had a smile on his face just like Kioko had, but his was of a totally different nature. It was friendlier and seemed less forced than Kioko's and yet it carried with it the ominous feeling that he wanted something from you, "I think I'm going to need more to drink before I can stomach this little love fest of yours."

The man said as he stopped next to Kioko, who looked with a raised brow from the man to his drink and then back again. "Drink all you want, since it seems that you've already helped yourself to my selection. After all these years you still remember where I keep the stuff." Kioko said with mild derision in his tone.

"Of course," the man laughed before he took a sip and turned toward the family, "So are you going to introduce me to these fine people here or am I going to have to be rude and ask them who the hell they are?"

"I guess I can be nice and introduce you all," Kioko said as he turned to the family, "Everybody this is Takuza, a long time acquaintance of mine. Takuza, this is my Earth family Lilo, her sister Nani, Stitch, Angel, their kids Oki, Kina and Ashley, Pleakley, and finally Jumba."

"Well it's a pleasure to meet you all." Takuza grinned as he pulled his hand from his pocket and placed it over his heart.

"Hold on a second," Nani blurted as she placed a finger on her chin, "Takuza… why does that name sound familiar?"

The whole family paused to think for a moment until Ashley suddenly exclaimed: "I know, you're the president of that big electronics company, Twin Arrow Electronics!"

"Hey yeah, you guys make those knock off Ipods that break right after you buy them!" Oki added.

Takuza pursed his lips and cocked an eyebrow as he looked at the two siblings. "Hey, we sell a quality product that just so happens to be the top selling MP3 player in Indonesia!"

"So wait, how do you know the president of an electronics company?" Lilo asked Kioko.

Before Kioko could open his mouth Takuza slipped his arm in between Shemata and Kioko and wrapped his arm around the pirates shoulder. "Let's just say that me and your pal Kioko go way, way, way back. We were pirates together!"

Eyes nearly bulged from their sockets. "What?" the family yelled simultaneously.

"That's right, Kioko here used to be my hired muscle,"

Kioko, whose eye had begun to twitch furiously the moment Takuza touched him, whipped around, grabbed the man by the collar and lifted him into the air. "Takuza," Kioko spoke with virulent tongue, "What was my rule?"

"Don't take our liquor without asking?" Takuza joked with a nervous laugh, but Kioko's grip only tightened, "Ok, ok it was to not refer to you as 'hired muscle', 'henchman' or any other demeaning title."

A satisfied smile crossed Kioko's lips as he placed the man back on the floor. "That's right, now don't forget that, because I'd hate to have to kill you in front of my family, but I'll do what I have to do."

"So you were a pirate like uncle Kioko?" Kina asked as Takuza straightened his lapels.

"I most certainly was," Takuza reached up to his cheek, wiped away some makeup, and revealed two black marks just like Kioko's, "You see?"

"Woah, you have two stripes too! You must be really strong." said Lilo as she looked the man up and down in fascination.

Takuza smiled awkwardly and ran his hand over his hair. "Well not exactly, I…"

"Takuza isn't strong in the same way that I am," Kioko interrupted, "Having two stripes on your cheek label you as a pirate that deserves the utmost respect, it doesn't necessarily indicate strength. Where I earned mine from sheer physical power, Takuza earned his from being one of the most cunning conmen in the universe. He once managed to con an entire planet out of their food stores in return for a 'miracle technology' that didn't actually exist."

"That's terrible!" Nani shouted.

"Terrible, yes, but it just shows how good I was." Takuza said with his chin held high and a proud glint in his eye.

"Well that explains why his electronics are such rip-offs." Kina whispered to his siblings, who all nodded in agreement.

"The only thing he wasn't so good at was getting out of debt. So he would come crawling to me begging me to help him get rid of loan sharks and other shady characters. And in a feat that still boggles my mind to this day he somehow always managed to get me to help." Kioko admitted disparagingly with his arms folded over his chest.

"If help is what you could call it," Takuza snapped back, "on a couple of occasions he nearly killed me along with the other guys!"

"Would have saved me a lot of trouble." Kioko scoffed.

"You see what I had to put up with?" the conman asked the family, "No matter what I did he always treated me like I was inferior trash."

Stitch's ears immediately perked up as Takuza's story appealed to him. "He treats me like that too," Stitch said as he stepped forward, "he's always bragging about how he's stronger than me! I never hear the end of it!"

"So your reign of ego crushing continues even into your own family? You are a cruel man, Kioko!" Takuza proclaimed.

Kioko gave a short laugh through a toothy smirk. "If you two only took the opportunities to make yourselves stronger I wouldn't be able to make those comments," Takuza rolled his eyes but Stitch started to sneer, "I used my time away from the tranquility of Kauai to build myself back up to where I once was, but as far as I can see neither of you thought to do the same," Kioko eyes settled on Stitch, "You never did give me a straight answer, did you get any stronger since I left?"

Kioko's overconfident smirk made Stitch's blood boil, for within that smirk he saw not only the cancer of his own pride, debasing all of his best efforts to keep his Ohana safe, but beyond that smirk he saw a man bent on tearing his and Angel's hearts apart. Stitch's teeth grinded together while his fist clenched into tiny, blue hammers.

"I suppose you didn't since you weren't able to protect Lilo and Angel." Kioko said with a twisted grin to a chorus of shocked gasps.

The last straw had been broken and with a beastly yell Stitch charged toward the pirate. The blue experiment extended his hidden appendages and leapt up at Kioko. He had no intention of holding back and so he swung his claws as hard and as fast as he could, but to his dismay Kioko simply leaned out of the way. Time slowed to a crawl as Stitch passed by Kioko at eye level, their gazes locked onto one another's. Just then, Kioko raised his hand up next to Stitch's head and snapped his fingers. To everyone's amazement, the simple action created a sound wave powerful enough to send Stitch flying and to knock everyone to the ground.

Stitch was sent flying over the railing of the platform. He tumbled through the air until he crashed into the platform below with an explosion of metal and sparks. He groaned as he pushed himself up from the small crater he'd made in the floor. His ears rung from the blast and his head pounded like a drum, but it would take a lot more than a loud sound to stop him. As he got to his feet and his vision refocused he suddenly realized that Kioko was standing in front of him.

'Wh… when did he? He's definitely gotten faster.' Stitch thought to himself as he took a few shaky steps back.

"What's a matter Stitch, don't tell me that little move scared you? Even I know you can take more than that."

"I don't get scared!" Stitch barked before turning around and running away. Kioko cocked his head to the side in confusion as the experiment scurried away, but then Stitch's plan became clear. The blue fur ball ran over to a nearby console and tore it from the floor. Kioko continued to smile as Stitch pitched the large hunk of metal right at him, "How about you?" Stitch screamed.

Kioko just stood calmly as the piece of equipment swallowed him in its shadow. Then, in the blink of an eye, the console split in two and the two halves sailed past the pirate harmlessly. Kioko laughed at the amateurish attempt, but as the console separated before him he suddenly found himself face to face with Stitch. 6-2-6 attacked with another vicious swipe of his claws, however, Kioko simply sidestepped once more. As Stitch landed, a pleased smile rose from the corners of his mouth. Stitch turned and lifted his paw, and revealed black fabric stuck to his claws.

Surprised, Kioko looked down at the lapel of his suit and saw the cloth torn away right at the collar. Stitch used this momentary break in focus to his advantage and moved in for another attack. He soared up to Kioko's eye level, drew back his fist, and aimed for the pirate's stripes. He closed the distance and released his punch; unfortunately Kioko reached up and palmed his face before he could make contact. Stitch grabbed a hold of Kioko's arm and tried to pull himself free, but the pirate only tightened his grip.

"That was a nice strategy, but you're going to have to try a lot harder if you want to land a solid hit on me," Kioko grinned, "By the way, you owe me a new suit."

Stitch's eyes widened in fear as streams of yellow energy poured out from Kioko's palm. Deep down Stitch new there was no way Kioko would blast his head off, but that didn't make his situation any less terrifying. Even Stitch had to admit it, taking a blast from Kioko at point-blank-range was not something he wanted to experience. At the last possible second Stitch kicked Kioko's arm and knocked himself free. He saved himself a few singed hairs, but the blast of energy sent him flying up toward the ceiling. The family winced as they saw Stitch slam into the ceiling in another shower of sparks. Stitch had better braced himself for the impact and quickly tried to get moving. Before he could even decide where to go, Kioko appeared in front of him with a grin on his face and a punch standing at the ready. Relying on pure preprogrammed instinct Stitch sprung away just as the pirate's fist reduced a large section of the ceiling to twisted metal. The blue experiment thought he was clear of danger, but before he got far Kioko reached up and grabbed him by the foot.

The pirate spun around and launched Stitch straight toward the upper platform where the family stood. They all parted like the red sea as Stitch slammed into the floor and bounced several times before he slid to a stop. With teeth bared and a deep growl rumbling up from his belly Stitch stood and glared up at Kioko. The young man stood on the ceiling just as easily as Stitch could, smiling down at him with the arrogant smirk that Stitch continued to grow more and more sick of.

"It's sad really, as much as you whine that I'm stealing your 'hero' status it's pathetic how weak you are," Kioko said with a strangely straight face, "How can you call yourself a hero when so many out there are stronger than you?"

"Shut up," Stitch screamed as his eyes began to water, "I am a hero, I've risked my life countless times for this family! There isn't anything that I wouldn't do to keep them safe, so how dare you call me weak, how dare you insult me in front of them. How can you judge what kind of a hero I am when you're as far from a hero as you can get," another round of gasps emerged from the family, "real hero's don't go around degrading the ones they're supposed to love!"

In the eyes of the family, Kioko and Stitch's rivalry had always been something of almost comical proportions, but at the drop of a hat it had grown into a bitter struggle. Their hearts froze in their chests as the two exchanged blows and spat vile claims against one another. Yet none of them could find the courage to stop them, not even Shemata who had, on more than one occasion, stopped much more violent fights. But her lack of knowledge toward her fiancé's and Stitch's relationship made her hesitate.

"So does that mean you consider me a villain?" Kioko asked bluntly.

Stitch paused, not sure of how to respond. His soul still raged inside him, fueled by the anger he had towards the pirate, but in a small moment of rationality he could only think of the pirate as family. His pride however, fought back that rationality and so the words shot from his lips.

"I do," Stitch said with an incensed sneer.

"Then fight me like I am," Kioko said, his voice unexpectedly came from behind Stitch. The experiment turned around just in time to see a boot coming at his face. In the next instant he bounced back to the other side of the platform, a small trickle of blood running from one nostril, "Instead of just sitting around complaining about how I bad mouth you, do something about it. If you really think of me as a villain why aren't you doing more to defeat me? All these years of me 'showing you up' I've never once seen you do anything to try and make yourself stronger or faster, no matter how badly I humiliated you. You just had so much pride in the strength you had already that it never even occurred to you. If your serious about protecting your family then you had better start getting stronger, because believe it or not there are many more out there like me. You've been lucky so far, the enemies you've fought have all been within your limit, but one of these days that luck is going to run out and you're going to have to fight someone with real power. When that day comes… for your families sake… you better be ready."

Stitch got back on his feet and cracked his neck. "There you go again," Stitch said with exhausted breaths, "talking down to me as if I'm some ignorant child. I hate it. I hate it so much! I'll show you," not knowing when to quit, Stitch charged at Kioko once more, "I'll show you that I'm strong enough!"

With a rebellious yell Stitch raced across the platform. His eyes and mind locked onto the pirate like an arrogance seeking missile. He was focused only on landing a hit; nothing Kioko could do was going to deter him. His family became nothing more than a fuzzy blur as he honed in on his target, but as that blur passed by him he felt a paw grab him by the wrist and yank him to a halt. Still running off his momentum, Stitch whirled around to confront whoever it was that had broken his focus. To his surprise, it was Angel. He looked down at her trembling paw, which refused to loosen its grip. He followed that trembling paw up her arm until finally his eyes met hers. He could tell with only a glance that she was frightened. Her eyes swelled with a look that begged him to stop, a look that showed him that the distance between them wasn't as large as he had thought.

With one look Angel quelled the raging storm in Stitch's heart and returned his spirit to the warmth of her embrace.

**There it is, the end of this chapter. This overdue chapter. Originally, I intended this chapter to be something far different, but I had a sudden change of ideas and so the release was pushed back. Anyway, school is back in session and I have a ton of writing to do for classes, but I'll try to get the next chapter up as soon as possible. Please review.**


	6. Opinion's of a Conman

The Three Demons: Descent

By: Kioko the pirate

Chapter 6: Opinions of a Conman

If there were one human emotion that made it possible for a relationship between two people to not only be intimate, but to last a life time, that emotion would have to be trust. Without trust we cannot bring ourselves to express our true desires to others, thus we maintain a degree of separation from them. But what happens when the person we trust has a past that we cannot comprehend? Does our trust waiver when that past is brought to light and we begin to see that person differently than we did before? The Pelekai family found themselves facing that very same question. Since the moment Kioko became a part of their family they had trusted him, despite knowing his reputation, but now the Kioko they had known seemed to be changing for reasons they could not even begin to understand.

As the mystery played out before them they began to wonder, perhaps they didn't have as firm a grip on whom Kioko had been before he came into their lives. They had known him for twelve years but his life's story extended tens of thousands of years into the past. It was ridiculous of them to assume they knew everything about him. Surely something in his past could explain his current behavior, fortunately for them they had a link to his past sitting right in front of them.

The first day of their travel had past and the family had finally settled into the gargantuan ship. Most of the family had spent the day exploring some of the ship and all the walking left them exhausted. All of them relaxed and stretched out on a pair of semicircular couches set facing one another with a small table in between them. The Pelekai's all sat on one couch while Takuza claimed the other all for himself. All but Lilo, Stitch, Angel, and Takuza talked amongst themselves about the upcoming wedding. Takuza, who had one arm stretched across the back of the couch and his legs crossed in the shape of a four, had his attention held by a holographic screen that floated before him. Lilo kept her eyes fixed curiously on the man as he casually tapped his finger against the screen, which caused charts and graphs to appear and change shape. She slowly leaned forward, trying to make out what was on the screen, unfortunately not only was the text backwards, but was also in a totally different language.

The girl leaned back and glanced over at Stitch and Angel, who sat next to her wrapped up in each others arms. After seeing Stitch and Kioko's fight, Angel seemed less focused on Kioko and more focused on Stitch. She'd hardly taken her paws off of him since the fight. While Lilo couldn't help but find it cute, she also couldn't deny the fact that it meant she was the only one in the family not too preoccupied to notice the key to Kioko's past sitting in front of them. Plagued by her incessant desire to figure out what had caused Kioko's sudden change of character, Lilo pounced on the opportunity to squeeze as much information out of Takuza as she could. But before she moved her lips she decided to make a game out of it. She'd always wanted to talk with a conman, ever since she'd watched "Catch Me if you Can" when she was younger. Now she had the chance to try and coerce information out of the best there was.

"So what are you doing there," Lilo asked as she leaned forward curiously.

"Business, young lady, the world of money never stops turning," the man said casually without taking his eyes off the screen.

"I thought you were a conman, not a business man,"

"Businessmen are conmen. They convince people that they need something that they really don't and then sell that thing to them for more than it's worth. Businessman is just a more socially accepted title, but the game is all the same," just then, all the charts on the screen flashed red and almost plummeted off the bottom, "God dammit." Takuza cursed with a sneer.

"Looks like even the master can't win all the time," Lilo joked with a grin.

Takuza looked over at Lilo with one discontented brow raised. "Yeah well, I'm not at my best. I haven't been making the profits I usually do ever since Kioko told me about his marriage plans."

Lilo's eyes narrowed fiendishly as she saw her opening. "The surprise knock you for a loop? Not the sort of thing you'd expect from him, given his history and all, am I right?"

The conman let out a sigh and made the screen vanish with a double tap from his finger. He gave a laugh accented by a smirk and stretched his arms and legs out. "Honey, you're never going to be able to con me. If you want to know about Kioko's past, don't waste my time trying to trick me into talking about it. Just come right out and ask," said Takuza.

Defeated, Lilo leaned back and folded her hands over her lap. "All right then, what do you think about this whole marriage thing? Is it just as weird to you as it is to us?"

Takuza's smirk disappeared underneath a sober expression. "You think it's weird to you," Takuza asked as if the idea were absurd, "You haven't the faintest idea how completely ridiculous this whole thing is. Listen up, all of you," Takuza spoke up loudly enough to draw the family's attention but not enough to catch Kioko and Shemata's ear. The two lovers were busy looking over the ships control panels, "all of you may be thinking that this marriage is strange, but I'm the only one here that knows just how strange it really is."

Takuza leaned forward with a hand on his knee and the other pointed toward Kioko. "I've known that pirate since before any of you were born. I know what he's really like and so I can say with confidence that he is not the sort of man who gets married. Hell, I don't really believe that he's capable of caring about others."

"How can you not believe it when the proof is sitting right in front of you?" asked Ashley as she gestured to the rest of the family.

"What, you think that since Kioko's been hanging around you people that it means he's a caring person? What a joke!"

"Ok, since you know him so well, what type of man is he?" questioned Nani with a patronizing tone.

Takuza let out a sigh through his nose, glanced over at Kioko, who was busy showing Shemata something on the ship's controls, and sat up straight. "He's a monster," the man said with a single breath. "A living nightmare who crushes the souls of all who stand before him and watches with tyrannical delight as their lives turn to ash."

"Sounds badass to me," Oki grinned. "It must have been awesome getting to hang around Uncle Kioko when he was the toughest pirate in the galaxy."

The businessman couldn't hold back a patronizing chuckle as he raised a brow at the oldest sibling. "Awesome? Awesome is the last word I'd use to describe it. All though I shouldn't expect you to know any better. You've only been alive long enough to know this 'well-mannered' Kioko, who seems to value family. If you had been around all those millennia ago when he was in his prime, you'd have an entirely different view of him. The fact that you consider him family prevents you from truly appreciating who he was."

Stitch gave a huff and rolled his eyes. "I think I can," Stitch said as he thought back to all of the competitions between Kioko and him.

Takuza shook his head. "No, you can't. Granted, I don't know you very well, but I've heard stories of your attempts to outdo Kioko in various ways and if that little scuffle you two shared yesterday was any indication, you haven't been very successful," Stitch gave a small sneer. "Nevertheless, despite the fact that the two of you are constantly going at each others throats, it doesn't take a trained eye to see that you too see him as a member of your family, your 'ohana' or whatever the hell it's called."

Stitch shifted uncomfortably in his seat as the sensation of having everyone's eyes locked on him rushed through his body, even though none of them were looking at him. He hated having his rivalry with the pirate tarnished by having his feelings pointed out.

"If you could ever comprehend the cruelty that man is capable of, you would have been less inclined to fight him."

"You know, I'm not so sure I like the way you're talking about our uncle," said Ashley as she folded her arms over her chest in the same scolding manner that her mother would. "I understand that he did some really bad things a long time ago, but he is a part of our ohana and I for one don't like hearing him bad mouthed."

"You tell him sis!" agreed Kina with an encouraging pat on her shoulder.

Takuza gave a short chuckle. "Naïve children, I only wish I could look at that man with the same innocent eyes that you do. Lord knows it'd be wonderful to be able to forget the things that I have seen."

"If you were so afraid of him, why did you stick around? If he was really that scary I would think you'd keep your distance." Nani said.

"Under most circumstances I would have. I prefer to avoid business with powerful people. As Kioko pointed out, I didn't get these stripes for being strong, in fact, I must admit that I'm not a fighter in the least. I have no talent for fighting. The only weapon I had to get myself out of sticky situations was my devious cunning." Takuza said while he tapped his finger against his head, "Unfortunately, despite my best efforts I always seemed to end up tied to a chair with a knife at my throat or a blaster against my head. I suppose that's why I stuck around Kioko, with him around nobody lived long enough to tie me down."

"So you _were_ using him as hired muscle," Pleakley said in a sly tone, his head tilted back smugly.

Takuza reeled in his seat as if Pleakley had just reached across and slapped him across the face. "You have it all wrong, my one-eyed friend! Yes, I used his inexplicable strength to my advantage sometimes, but he was so much more than that to me."

"How so?" Lilo asked smiling at the wave of information she was getting about Kioko.

"Most conmen have to rely on their ability to con people in order to get by, but I was fortunate enough to find a pirate willing to share the fortune he received from pirating."

The whole family seemed caught off guard by Takuza's words. Not only was it a shock that a pirate would be willing to share his or her wealth, but the fact that it was Kioko bowled them over. Takuza had no immediate intention to elaborate further, but after seeing the family's gaping faces, he felt he had an obligation to proceed. However, he did not like where the conversation would inevitably lead.

After a short breath Takuza continued. "Most pirates are obsessed with finding some form of treasure. It can be anything from weapons, to jewels, to technology, and there even some pirates that steal people and sell them as slaves. But no matter what it is they steal, the driving force behind what they do is money."

"Just like you," Stitch commented.

"Yes, but unlike most pirates, I am not a savage. I'm a… socialized pirate."

"So then, Kioko was never obsessed with treasure enough to keep it all to himself?" Nani asked, Takuza shook his head.

"But we've all seen the incredible things he has left over from his pirating days. He has treasure that would make the Crown Jewels look like chunks of used chalk. If treasure wasn't what he was after, what was it?" Lilo said as she thought of the necklace that Kioko had given to Stitch to give to Angel for Christmas.

The lighthearted glint in Takuza's eyes disappeared under a somber haze, his expression reminiscent of a battle worn soldier unable to escape the horrors of war that replay constantly in his mind.

"There was never any one thing that Kioko went after, he simply pursued whatever it was that he needed at that given moment. If he needed a piece for his ship, he would steal that piece, if someone stole something from him, he would steal it back,"

"Well that makes him sound more like thief than a pirate." Jumba said as he turned his large body to face the conman.

Takuza closed his eyes. He felt himself getting closer to the topic that stung his lips as he spoke of it. Yet he hesitated for only a moment, perhaps telling them would some how make it worthwhile. "There is virtually no difference between a pirate and a thief. Both aim to take something from another; the only difference is you don't have groups of thieves running around stealing things; they usually work alone. In that way, Kioko was nothing more than a thief. Everything he did, he did by himself. Though, I think even if he had wanted someone to go with him, they would have refused. They would be too afraid that he'd kill them in the middle of the fight."

"It was that intense?" Kina asked.

In a fleeting moment of morbid levity, Takuza chuckled. "Let's just say that Kioko didn't know how to hold back and if you got in the way, it was your own damn fault."

Takuza's smile faded and he returned to the topic at hand. "While pirates and thieves are almost identical in their intentions, there exists one major difference between them. Where thieves would prefer to avoid any physical confrontation, pirates instigate confrontations as a way to make theft more thrilling. In that manner Kioko… was very much a pirate. More so than the desire to steal, I think Kioko became a pirate because of the savagery involved. There are very few things I remember him stealing, but I vividly remember just how many men he killed in the process."

A knot formed in Takuza's stomach, it traveled up until it lodged in his throat. It was a sickening, dizzying sensation that forced him to lean forward with his elbows on his knees.

"Are you ok?" Lilo asked as the conman took a couple deep breathes.

Lilo didn't know if the man had heard her, as he did not respond, he just sat back up and continued with his story. "There was one moment that is forever engrained in my head. No matter how much I drank I couldn't wash it away. I had heard that the Taleric Union was transporting one of their monetary caches from an outpost to one of their central banks. It was well known that even the smallest of their caches contained trillions of credits. Needless to say, such a prize would be impossible to pass up and as usual I had a few debts that could be easily paid with such a haul and still leave me plenty of spending money. The problem; however, was that such an important cargo would be transported in the most secure fashion the Union had at its disposal. That meant that it would undoubtedly be transported by a special kind of armored cargo ship…"

Jumba suddenly gasped in realization. "A god's sentinel!"

Takuza pressed his finger to his lips and shushed the large scientist. "Not so loud, I really doubt Kioko would want me telling you this story. But yes, a god's sentinel, a ship whose defensive abilities are said to be able to withstand a supernova," Takuza watched as jaws dropped. "But what makes them so strong a cargo ship is the fact that you don't put the cargo in the ship, you build the ship around the cargo. In doing so, you leave absolutely no access point to the cargo. No doors through which to enter, no ventilation through which to travel, and not even any electrical outlets. The only way to get at the cargo is to disassemble the ship or blast through all ten miles of armor."

Jaws reached the floor and eyes nearly popped out of skulls. Once more, a momentary feeling of humor brought on by the family's ridiculous expressions broke Takuza's tension.

"Most pirates, though tempted, would pass up a target such as a god's sentinel simply because they, for one don't have the firepower to blast through it's defenses and, they usually have a heavy military escort. But as you can probably figure, neither of those things would deter Kioko. So I made a deal with him: I'd leave him alone for a thousand years if he would just retrieve the stuff for me. I even offered to give him a cut, but thankfully for me he was satisfied with me just leaving him alone," Takuza looked over toward Kioko to make sure the pirate showed no signs of moving from his spot in the captain's chair. When he saw that he wasn't, Takuza continued. "When we found the ship it had gotten separated from its escort going through a nebula, which made it a sitting duck."

The knot in Takuza's throat grew larger, almost to the point of being painful. The conman placed two fingers on his right temple and moved them in short, quick circles. Memories he had worked so hard to push away were becoming clearer, as clear as a knife in one's chest.

"I expected him to go about the job with the same begrudged effort he usually put forth at my request and it certainly seemed as if he would when he left. It only took him a moment to blast his way into the lesser-armored command module of the ship, I only expected it to take him half an hour to retrieve the cash, but soon two hours passed and I heard nothing. At last, after nearly three hours, he returned to the ship. Eager to see my new piles of treasure, I ran down to the hangar deck, the same one that you all landed in. I got there soon after he landed and I hurriedly opened the doors, but instead of seeing the piles of debt destroying credits… I saw only him," everyone could see the discomfort in Takuza's face as he clenched the edge of the couch cushions in his hands and winced as if a fork were being twisted in his back. "At first I couldn't perceive anything wrong, my first thought was that maybe he had placed the credits in my ship already, but when I asked him, I got no answer. He just walked past me as if I didn't exist."

Takuza's breathing became labored as his mind put him back in that moment all over again. "He had this… smile on his face… sickening, fiendish… I'd seen that devilish smile countless times, but this was different… that smile made me yearn for my grave, it made me want to die."

The Pelekai family had become used to shrugging off the horror stories that they had heard about Kioko over the years. Looking at how he acted around them it was possible for them to imagine him behaving much more antagonistically, but even through his momentary bursts of anger and violence, they could not plainly see the blood on his hands. However, through Takuza's trembling, they could begin to see the same smile that tore away his mind and made him feel as though death had him by the throat with one icy, fleshless hand. At once, the entire family turned and looked over toward the man, who was still talking with his wife-to-be about an unknown topic. His expression was void, with no hint of any positive or negative emotion, a scholarly expression that gave them reason to believe that he was still explaining something to the woman.

His blank expression gave them an empty canvas with which to paint that demonic smile upon, but as they did it felt as if it were only a fragment of their imagination, an illusion born from their lack of knowledge about Kioko's past. After a moment, Takuza continued with his story and everyone's attention was drawn back to the conman, save for Angel. While the rest of her family struggled to see proof of his twisted past in his expression, Angel could only see proof that he had somehow managed to bury, if not get rid of entirely, the problems that now plagued her. Somewhere in that calm and collected expression of his, was the answer she so desperately longed for, yet she had no choice but to wait. If she rushed over there and pulled him away in front of the family they would get curious and start asking questions. As large as her problem may have been and as desperately as she needed help, the last thing she wanted was to draw them into her nightmare.

"At the time that this incident happed, Kioko's ruthless reputation was well known and wide spread," Takuza continued. "But there was a part of me that refused to believe all the hype, probably because of the fact that I was around him more often than not and I needed a defense against the constant hum of fear that I felt whenever I set foot in this ship. I wanted to believe that he was above the slime that permeates the world of piracy, that he had some moral fiber left in him. Granted, I had seen him kill before, but it was always in a systematic fashion that made it appear as if he wanted to spend as little time in that moment as possible. It was like he was doing it out of sheer necessity and nothing more. But when I saw that smile, my heart just disintegrated. It suddenly occurred to me what had taken him so long… he hadn't… he hadn't gone after the cache."

Everyone leaned foreword on the edge of their seats, their attentions unshakably locked onto the man's words. "He had gone after the crew and nothing else," uncertain and disgusted looks swept over the whole of the family. "At first I didn't want to believe it, because there wasn't a drop of blood on him at all, but when I went and scanned the ship for life signs… nothing."

"My god," breathed Nani as she suddenly felt a tension building in the side of her body that was facing the pirate.

"And that is why I wasn't all that keen to have him join our family all those years ago." Pleakley said as he folded his arms over his chest.

"I… I still find it hard to believe," Kina said as he glanced over at his uncle. "That man helped raise us. He played ball with us and even tucked us into bed a few times, someone can't just hide murderous intent like that."

Takuza sighed and looked the young man right in the eye. "I know it's hard for you to fathom, but believe me, I know that man better than anyone else. Deep down he's a monster; I wanted to believe differently, just like you, but it cannot be denied. He killed that crew just because he wanted to, there was no reason to kill them all," Takuza leaned back in his seat and held his forehead in his hand. "There were…"

"510,267 crewman on board," blurted Angel as she continued to stare at Kioko.

Simultaneous gasps rose from the family as they all looked over at the female experiment. "Angel…" Stitch said quietly to himself as he looked concernedly between her and Kioko.

"Only a handful put up any sort of fight, the rest just ran," Angel continued mournfully. "But they couldn't run far enough."

Takuza's hand slowly pulled away from his forehead and his eyes lit up with sudden revelation. "That's right… I forgot about you. You're even more a mystery to me than this whole wedding thing is," everyone looked back again at the conman, including Angel who seemed less than happy about what she had just said, not that she had said it, but because she knew it. "I've never heard him use so many kind words about someone as he does when he talks about you, which by the way is all the damn time."

A small, flattered smile rose off of Angel's lips, it was comforting to know that Kioko hadn't stopped thinking of her. Angel's smirk; however, had an equal and opposite reaction on Stitch's face. It seemed indecorous for a man to be praising another man's mate while his soon-to-be bride was around.

"He's told me, numerous times, how close you two are, so I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that he would have shared some of his darker tales with you." Takuza said.

"Now why would he share a story like that with you and not the rest of us?" asked Lilo as she looked over at Angel, who just closed her eyes and lowered her head. Lilo raised an eyebrow, not sure how to interpret the experiments body language.

"My question is why would he share that story in the first place," Takuza said as he continued to study the female experiment as if he were trying to find something about her that would keep a space pirates attention. "If I hadn't been there to witness it, I know he never would have told me about it. I'm sure it comes as no surprise to you people, but Kioko isn't a social person, most of the time, if he talked to you, it meant you were in grave danger. But obviously that is no longer the case."

Takuza wiped his hand down his face, placed his fingertips against his lips and let out a frustrated sigh. "I just don't understand what he sees in you," Takuza locked eyes with Angel. "You're not antisocial like he is, you don't appear to have a single cruel fiber in your entire body, and I can't see even the tiniest flicker of blood lust in your eyes. Out of my own experience I can't see any reason why he would even pay you a second glance, let alone talk on and on about you."

For the first time since Kioko had revealed the terrible curse that the two of them shared, Angel felt as if her secret were on the verge of being discovered. The longer she gazed into the former pirate's eyes the deeper he seemed to get into her mind. It felt as though he were peeling back the layers of her soul, searching, on a hunch, for what she felt was her greatest humiliation. She didn't even know for sure if he was aware that Kioko had the same curse, but just the fact that he had so much history with Kioko made it a possibility. To save her secret she turned her head and looked over at Kioko from the corner of her eye.

"Well you know what they say: opposites attract. After he rescued me we just connected," Angel said with a smile as she slowly stroked her shoulder. "Isn't it normal for a person to grow attached to their rescuer? I mean, no offense to you Stitch, but that day Kioko was my hero. I think it'd be stranger if I felt no connection to him."

"I would have rescued you, but Lilo sent Kioko to do it before me." Stitch mumbled to himself as he sat pouting and imagining himself flipping Kioko the biggest bird of all time as he swept Angel off her feet and flew away with her, leaving Kioko sobbing on the ground.

Takuza nodded in agreement. "That is true, you always hear about people heaping endless amounts of praise onto the people who save their lives, their heroes. I would expect it to be the same with you… if Kioko were a hero. What none of you seem to have a grasp on is that you're all a very, very rare breed. You have to be the only people in this whole universe, this whole expanse of space, who think of Kioko in a positive frame of mind. Now I may be a bit of a betting man, but if it weren't for the fact that I knew you people existed, I wouldn't bet a single cent on if it were even possible for someone to 'like' that man."

"So you're saying we're special in a way?" Lilo asked smiling as she basked in her family's uniqueness.

"Unfortunate, may be a better word for your situation, especially for you," Takuza said as he looked at Angel, who felt it safe to look back at the man. "Misfortune, it seems, has a habit of following that man around. Everyone who gets too close to him suffers. I've seen it happen countless times. I would love to say that, given your unique connection to him, the rule doesn't apply to you, but given Kioko's unpredictable nature I would still recommend you tread lightly."

Takuza's words were meant for all, but he kept his focus on Angel. It was as if he were trying to drill a particular message into her head. The man stared, unblinking; the urgency in his eyes seemed to carry a warning. There was more concern in his voice for her safety than for any of her other family members. She knew he was the only other person in the universe that knew Kioko as intimately as she did, any words of wisdom from him should be considered valuable, but she felt as though her experiences with Kioko gave her a greater insight and understanding into the pirates mind. Takuza may have known Kioko far longer than her, but she still believed that she knew Kioko better.

She believed that Kioko could be very treacherous towards others, but it made no sense to think he would every have any ill intentions toward her. She was the only other being in the galaxy that knew his torment; he would be a fool of epic proportions to even consider turning his back on her.

Despite her belief that Takuza didn't know her relationship with Kioko enough to know what he was talking about, she remained focused on the words that came from his mouth. They carried with them a grim warning.

"Be wary of that man's smile, for there is no telling what dark intent it hides."

**Well after a really long wait, this chapter is completed. With Christmas break underway I don't foresee too many distractions, save for Christmas and my girlfriend that will keep me from progressing onto the next chapter. Please review.**


	7. Questions

The Three Demons: Descent

By: Kioko the pirate

Chapter 7: Questions

After nearly two full days aboard Kioko's ship, the Koroku, the family was almost within arm's reach of Korigon, but the warning Takuza gave to them about Kioko's true nature left them feeling uneasy. Their final hours aboard the ship seemed to creep by and added to their growing unrest. In order to ease the tension the family decided to take advantage of a few of the ship's recreational areas, namely, the largest swimming pool they had ever seen. It looked more like a man-made lake rather than a swimming pool.

Lacking their father's fear of water and inability to swim, the triplets took to the water like ducks to a pond. Their not yet fully developed sense of humility had left them immune to Takuza's words, confident in their beliefs that their uncle was far from a monster. The issue of Kioko's trustworthiness washed off of their shoulders the moment they immersed themselves in the clear, warm waters.

Unfortunately for the rest of the family, the issue did not leave their minds so easily. While Kioko had never done anything that would make them doubt his loyalty to the family, the fact that his history painted a picture of a man who was only truly loyal to him self was enough to raise some questions. That's all they were for the time being, questions, questions that had yet to blossom into concerns. Even after the horrifying tale of the god's sentinel slaughter, they didn't feel like they were in any great danger. But now they couldn't help but look at everything Kioko did with critical eyes. As Lilo, Nani, Angel, Jumba and Pleakley settled into some chairs that sat beside the pool, the desire to talk about the subject jumped between them like a spark; however, they had to restrain themselves as Shemata had decided to join them.

But while they readied themselves for a nice dip, the former officer paced quickly back and forth with her eyes glued to a small video communicator, just like the one Pleakley and Jumba used, in her hand. Her nose tugged at her upper lip, struggling to form a sneer. Shemata was locked in a battle that not even Kioko could win; she had to convince her parents that marrying the most feared space pirate in the universe was a good idea. She had told them previously that she was getting married, but purposely left out the fact that it was to the infamous Kioko. With the big day growing closer, she figured it a better idea to tell them early, rather than have them find out on the day of the wedding. Though with her parents understandable concern and anger, she regretted telling them about her engagement all together.

"I cannot believe what I am hearing," yelled a deep, gnarled male voice from the communicator. "What the hell is the matter with you? Have you lost your mind?"

Shemata closed her eyes for a moment and let go of a sigh. "Father, you're judging him only by his past, not by his present."

"Well of course I'm judging him by his past, that's the important part," the voice barked back. "He's the lowest of the low, Shemata, he's just a cold-blooded murderer!"

"I told you, he's changed! I know it's hard to believe, but isn't the fact that I'm still alive proof enough," The blue-haired woman snapped at the communicator. "Even if it's not enough, there are others here that will vouch for Kioko's change in behavior."

"Others," The surly man questioned. "Now there are others? What kind of treacherous horde are you aligning yourself with?"

"They are far from treacherous, Father. They're all from the federation; two humans, a plorgonarian, a kweltikwanian, two genetic experiments and their triplets. In my opinion that does not sound like a unsavory bunch."

There was a brief pause from the communicator, followed by the sound of rustling paper. Everyone looked on curiously as the woman rolled her eyes and leaned against the wall.

"A plorgonarian, a kweltikwanian and two genetic experiments," Shemata's father asked looking for conformation. Shemata gave him nothing. "Are you talking about that crazy scientist responsible for creating hundreds of genetic abominations, Jumba Jookiba, or what ever the hell his name is?"

Jumba's eyes narrowed in resentment and a slight growl rumbled up from his pudgy throat. "Yes, Father, and they are all within ear shot, so I would appreciate it if you could keep your voice down."

Shemata's plea went unheard as her father's tempered voice once again exploded from the communicator. "What the hell has happened to you, Shemata? You were a lieutenant in the Royal Police force, now you're getting yourself involved with the same diseased slime that you swore to bring to justice!"

"Diseased slime? What a pleasant man." Angel sneered.

"In-law's are always fun." Nani added as she remembered the long curse filled discussions her parents had about each other's families.

"I'm not on the force anymore, Father, I'm no longer bound by code to bring criminals to justice," Shemata said, knowing full well that it would irritate her father. To add insult to injury Shemata continued, "In fact, with Kioko as my husband, I'm no longer bound to follow the laws at all."

A stream of obscenities and incoherent yells erupted from the communicator. Shemata grinned at the success of her prodding. Nani shook her head at the counter-productive behavior while Angel lowered her head into her paw and sighed.

"You're going to put your mother in an early grave, you know that don't you? She's in our room right now praying for your sanity to return!"

"She is not," Shemata said.

"Yes she is," the man defended. "She's in there praying for your safety and begging the spirits to snap you out of whatever devilish spell that monster cast on you."

"No she's not, Father. You told me your room was being fumigated, so unless Mother decided to beg the spirits by meeting them face-to-face, she isn't in there."

Shemata's father stumbled for a response for a moment. "It doesn't matter where she's doing it, the point is she's praying for you. We don't want to see you throw your life away like this! If you marry Kioko, you may as well be blasting holes in our heads!"

"You know, you're going to feel really stupid when you see how much he's changed," Shemata snapped. "I felt the same way you do when he first showed up in my office, but after a while he showed me that he's no longer the pirate everyone remembers him as. He's gained a lot of self-control. My guess is that the time he spent with the simple-minded beings of Earth humbled him,"

Despite the fact that the man hadn't lowered his voice since the start of the conversation, Shemata's father found the strength to raise his voice even further.

"That fiend killed not only men and woman that I worked with, but with some of your closest friends," the man's voice grew so strong that the speakers on the communicator struggled to match his volume. "Now you betray their memory by marrying their murderer, it makes no sense, Shemata! Have you forgotten what he did to Seishuu?"

In a flash, Shemata's frustrated expression fell to a much darker place. Her navy blue hair hid her face as her chin fell to her chest. Her grip tightened on the communicator so much that it caused the video to stutter. Her father fell silent for a moment, recognizing how sensitive a string he had just plucked. Everyone, but the kids, who were too preoccupied with swimming to pay attention to the conversation, looked between each other with uncertain looks. All of them felt as though they should say something, but what could they say to a woman they barely knew?

Regrettably, the first person to say something to her was her father. Of course his words were less than comforting.

"He was unarmed, Shemata, he couldn't have done anything if he wanted to, but Kioko still killed him! Took his head right off his shoulders! How the hell can you look at that pirate with any sort of caring feelings? You used to despise him, just like everyone else with any common sense! You once swore to me that you wouldn't rest until filthy vermin like him were brought to justice! So what happened, what the hell did that monster do to you?"

"You have no idea what you're talking about," Shemata said. Her voice was low but boiled with pent up rage. "So just shut up!"

All at once Shemata's pent up anger let loose. Gripping the communicator like a vice, the woman turned and slammed the device into the bulkhead. The force of the impact shattered the communicator like fine china, dented the bulkhead as if it had been hit by a wrecking ball and sent sharp vibrations through the entire room. Everyone, including the kids, jumped at the sudden impact. Jaws fell agape at Shemata's show of strength and it became a little clearer to everyone why Kioko had chosen her to be his wife.

Shemata's head fell between her shoulders as she took in several deep breaths to try and calm her self. The remains of the communicator slipped out from underneath her palm and sprinkled to the floor like snow. Unable to resist her natural urge to help and comfort people, Lilo got up from her seat and walked over to the woman. After seeing her monstrous strength, Lilo was slightly hesitant to approach. Not knowing how jumpy Shemata might be in the state she was in; Lilo was ready to pull away the moment her hand came to rest upon Shemata's shoulder.

Fortunately, nothing happened and Lilo was free to work her magic.

"Parents aren't exactly supportive of you marrying Kioko, huh," Lilo said jokingly as she tried to remove the angry and frustrated expression from the former policewoman's face.

The blue-haired woman pulled her hand away from the wall and stood straight. "It was to be expected," Shemata said as she looked at Lilo from the corner of her eye. "To be honest, I'd be more surprised if they were supportive."

The woman turned and made her way over to the rest of the family. She flopped down into the chair that Lilo had occupied and held her forehead. "Maybe it would have been better for me to have told them after the ceremony?" Shemata pondered as she leaned her head back.

"By the sound of it they would have thrown a fit no matter what. I'd think it'd be better to get it out of the way sooner than later." Lilo said.

"Either way I'm facing a maelstrom of rage like nothing ever seen before. My father is so set in his ways that he can't even fathom a pirate becoming anything more than slime oozing from the devils ass."

Nani pulled her chair up closer to Shemata's and leaned in. "This may be a stupid question," Nani said. "But what made your dad hate pirates so much?"

"My father was the second seat officer in the anti-piracy division of the Royal Police force. It was his job to try and stop piracy wherever it appeared. He saw it as his purpose in life. It was the reason he was born."

"And you go and get engaged to the most dangerous pirate ever to exist, yeah I can see why he'd be pissed." Angel said with a touch of condemnation hidden in her tone.

While the family moved in towards the woman, the pink experiment kept her distance. Her suspicions toward the woman drew a line on the ground that she refused to step over. Her eyes were locked on the woman in a judging gaze, highlighting any imperfection she could find. Searching for the one detail that may reveal her scheme.

"I don't think he's as upset about his daughter marrying a pirate as much as he's angry that I'm tossing aside the vow that I made before I joined the force,"

"What vow?" asked Pleakley curiously.

"Growing up I had listened to my father speak of how vile pirates were. How they soil life itself with their existence. He talked about how honorable it was to try and rid the universe of them. Anyone who brought a pirate to justice would be forever considered a hero," Shemata said as she sat forward in the chair.

"I fell in love with that idea. While most girls dreamed of finding a husband and raising a beautiful family, I dreamed of achieving the ultimate glory of bringing piracy to an end. Once I was old enough I entered the academy; my father couldn't have been happier. A few years later I graduated at the top of my class and I vowed that I would devote my mind, body and soul to eliminating piracy from the stars."

"Now what about pirate boy could have made you throw away strong vow like that?" asked Jumba as his brow furrowed in confusion.

Shemata chuckled. "I told you back at the house what happened. The more Kioko hung around me, the less threatening he seemed to become. I still can't begin to explain how it happened. Throughout my entire career I saw Kioko as the head of the serpent, the root of all piracy, the parasite king. But after a few unexpected conversations, his status in my mind degraded to simply 'the-guy-annoying-me-at-work'. Then I started to see him as charming and low and behold here we are."

There was a short pause as everyone searched for something to say next. The only sound in the room was the playful cheers of the kids. Even though the topic had obviously gotten Shemata wound up, Lilo could not help but ask one question that lingered somewhere in everyone's mind.

"What's the story with that Seishuu guy your father mentioned?" the Hawaiian girl asked as she unintentionally took a cautious step back.

Once more the blue-haired woman seemed troubled by the topic. A peeved expression came over her face, but a reminiscent glow sparkled in her eyes. Feeling surrounded as she glanced around at Kioko's "family", Shemata stood up and sauntered over to the pool. She looked across to the other side of the massive pool and ran her eyes along its borders, as if inspecting it for flaws.

"After I joined the Royal Police I quickly gained a reputation as a by-the-book sort of officer. I hated it when I saw others breaking protocol, even if it was a tiny matter. I probably wrote up as many officers as I did criminals. As you could imagine, this didn't make me real popular," Shemata said as she chuckled to herself. "But then I met Seishuu. He'd joined the force only a few years before I did and he didn't seem to mind my… bitchy behavior. We started working together and developed what you people call a good cop and bad cop routine."

It felt strange talking about her former partner. It had been centuries since his name had even been spoken. Now Shemata found herself revisiting memories she'd long since shut away. She felt the beginnings of a smile rising from the corners of her mouth as she remembered the man's gentle face, the kind of face that earns a person's trust with a single glance.

"I of course always played the bad cop," Shemata said with a quick look over her shoulder toward the family. "He couldn't have played a bad cop if his life depended on it. I always thought he was better suited for ministry rather than law enforcement. He had this crazy idea that trying to stop crime with force and discipline only helped to foster the resilience of criminals. He always said that if we could stop them with caring and compassion, then crime would have no place in which to grow. I always blew it off when he started talking like that though. I told him it was wishful thinking and that reality doesn't work like that, but once I started dating Kioko I grew more faith in the idea."

Shemata whipped around and walked purposefully toward the family, wagging her finger as she walked. "Seishuu was the one real friend I had in the force. My father hoped that he would become my husband one day. He really liked Seishuu 'a perfect example of what a man, a husband, should be' he would always say," Shemata vigorously said as she pointed at the floor. "My father thinks that I'm dishonoring his memory by marrying the man who killed him, but I think I'm honoring him the greatest way possible! I showed compassion and love to a man once known for being the most evil being in the universe and now he does everything he can to do good. That's exactly what Seishuu always wanted!"

A light seemed to flash on in Angel's mind. Her ears stood straight up as she replayed the woman's words in her head over and over again. She had just found the biggest clue, if not the driving reason, for why a former policewoman, dedicated to her job and purpose, would turn around and marry a pirate. The thoughts started pouring into the experiment's mind. Shemata wasn't in love with Kioko, not truly. She was only fulfilling the ideals of long dead partner in order to get some sort of revenge on Kioko. She was only pretending to be in love with Kioko, her true feelings remained with Seishuu. It was just so obvious, fiery emotions like the ones Shemata showed when the topic of the man was brought up could only indicate a lingering love deep in her heart.

Angel couldn't help but sympathize with Shemata's feelings. She too would want revenge if anyone took Kioko or Stitch away from her. But her sympathy only extended so far, Angel could see the evidence building that Shemata was indeed trying to steal Kioko away from her. She didn't know how or when she would try and do it, but Angel could feel it in the pit of her stomach, Shemata was a threat.

Angel continued to stare daggers deep into the woman as she continued explaining herself to the family.

"I have no doubts about marrying Kioko," Shemata said, unaware of the death glares aimed at her from one pink experiment. "I'm well aware of his past and his strength, but I can't think of anyone better to help protect not only myself but any children we my have. After all, who better to protect us from evil than someone who knows evil's every form?"

Everyone gave a slight nod in agreement. "I know when I was little I used to feel almost invincible whenever we went anywhere with Kioko," Lilo said with a fond smile. "I never had to worry about anything happening to me."

"And that's exactly how I feel," Shemata laughed. "I mean I'm no pushover, not by a long shot. I've taken down guys many times larger than myself with little effort, but when I'm around Kioko… I feel like his strength becomes my own. I have to say it's nice."

"It does seem to be a little hard to believe that a police woman in the prime of her life would marry a pirate doesn't it," Pleakley asked Jumba quietly as he leaned over and gave the larger alien a nudge with his elbow.

Jumba shrugged. "Is no more unbelievable that evil genius would become friend with bumbling, one-eyed noodle, or that evil genius creation, designed for destruction, would become pet to little earth girl. Or even that little Earth girl would gain power to manipulate the elements of the universe."

Pleakley nodded thoughtfully for a moment. "You're right," he said before pausing in realization. "Hey, who are you calling a bumbling noodle!"

Nani couldn't help but chuckle as she pictured Stitch's face turning beet red from all of the Kioko fandom in the room. "It's a good thing Stitch isn't here, he'd be throwing a fit right now." The woman said as she recovered from her laughing.

"That's something I don't really understand," Shemata said. "Why do they go at each other the way they do? If they consider each other family, how can they bring themselves to fight?"

Lilo shrugged. "What else happens when two huge egos are packed in together," Lilo said with an amused smile.

"I can understand two people with strong personalities butting heads, but to go at each other with such ferocity…"

"It's normal for them," Lilo interrupted. "They're both incredibly strong and incredibly stubborn. They don't pull their punches. But if you just look, you can see that they care deeply for each other."

At that moment, up in the bridge of the ship, Stitch and Kioko sat alone on the couches facing each other. Stitch was curled up on one couch, enjoying a rare nap. At least, he would have liked to take a nap. He could not bring himself to fall asleep with the pirate before him. His suspicions would not allow him to take his eyes off of Kioko for even a moment. As he pretended to sleep Stitch carefully opened one of his eyes, only enough to see. Kioko sat facing him, a small table with a bottle of deep red liquid and a small brandy glass next to him. The pirate, dressed in black from head to toe, slowly swirled a cup of the crimson liquid with a toothy smirk pasted on his face. Stitch began to feel like his ruse was for not as Kioko stared at him, unblinking, his head tilted ever so slightly as if he were playing out some scenario in his mind. Stitch worried that he was the star of the scenario, whatever it may be.

The blue experiment couldn't help but focus on that smirk, the subtle grin that set on display and yet hid Kioko's intentions. Stitch had always hated Kioko's smirk. It was so condescending that it tweaked a nerve every time he saw it. That arrogance had become one of Stitch's driving forces in his competitions with the pirate. Stitch didn't always want to outdo Kioko; just to knock him off of his high horse would be incredibly satisfying. But no matter what he did, no matter how hard he tried, he just could wipe that smirk off of his face.

But arrogance was all that had ever been there. Stitch had never seen any ill intent hidden in Kioko's smirk. Beyond the arrogance there had been a sense of safety, like an older, more experienced, brother watching over his siblings. It was one of the few things Stitch couldn't complain about. Even though he would prefer to be the sole protector of the family, it was reassuring to him knowing that if something happened to him his Ohana wouldn't be defenseless.

However, that safe feeling hidden in his smirk was fading with each passing second. It was hard for Stitch to see any of it left. Perhaps it was still there somewhere, covered up by his suspicions, but his intuition told him he was looking at the true Kioko. The Kioko that Takuza had warned them of. Stitch's brow furrowed in critical concentration as he could swear he saw the monster stirring just beneath the pirate's skin.

"Stitch, may I ask you something," Kioko suddenly said. "I know you're not asleep."

Stitch opened his eyes and casually sat up on all fours, trying to play it off like he hadn't been staring at him.

"I suppose," Stitch said as he stretched.

"Do you think I'd be as good a father as you are?"

Stitch froze in place mid-stretch and looked over at the man wide eyed. The insidious smirk had vanished beneath the warm smile that always graced the family. Such rapid and vast changes shook Stitch's otherwise certain doubts about the man.

"As good a father… as me?" Stitch asked, uncertain of how to handle him self.

"That's right. I've been trying to figure out if I have what it takes and I've been looking at you to try and find a clue to what makes for a good father," Kioko chuckled and took a small sip of his drink. "I'm sure the answer is obvious, but I must admit that I can't seem to find it."

'Is that really what he's been thinking this whole time,' Stitch thought to himself as a puzzled expression remained on his face. 'It couldn't have been… could it?'

"You may no longer be the strongest or fastest in this family," Kioko set his glass down on the table and leaned forward with his arms on his legs. "But I honestly think you're the best suited to be a father."

Stitch's ears fell over his shoulders as he found himself bathed in the sudden rush of sincerity that filled Kioko's eyes and voice.

"Why… were you smiling," Stitch said as his thoughts slipped out.

Kioko leaned back slightly and laughed before looking away. "I was smiling because I was thinking of how much your kids love you. I was thinking of all the fun you have with them and of all the joy they bring you and Angel; It made me happy knowing that I have such a good role model for fatherhood."

Stitch recovered from his initial shock and raised a wary brow. "Ok, hold on a second, why are you complimenting me like this," Stitch as with a tilt of his head. "It's really out of character."

Kioko raised his one brow and whipped out his typical arrogant smirk. "Would you rather I go back to insulting you, degrading you and other wise just breaking you down until you're nothing but a broken heap of fur and hurt feelings?"

Stitch didn't answer. "Out of character or not, what I said was the truth. You're one of the best father's I've ever known and I would give everything to be even half the father you are. So I want your honest opinion, don't hold a word back. What kind of father do you think I'd be?"

Stitch began to think as he stared into the face of the man who, just moments before, had seemed to be on the verge of evil laughter. He thought of how Kioko cared for the triplets and he thought of how Kioko watched out for Lilo. His answer began to build in his head, surprising, yet not far from unbelievable. Stitch gave it one last thought and finally settled on the answer, but before his lips could even part to utter one word of it, a screen popped up between him and Kioko and a female voice spoke from the walls.

"Initiating vortex drop. Destination reached." The voice announced.

Kioko pulled away and began taping parts of the screen.

"I guess you'll have to tell me later," he said as the screen disappeared. Kioko stood up and turned to face the massive window. "We're here."

**Well that's the end of this chapter. I don't know why I keep pointing out the obvious. Anyway, once again sorry for the long wait. Lack of ideas and school/work have all but depleted my time. Thank you for sticking with me though. I really appreciate it. Please review!**


	8. Fates

The Three Demons: Descent

By: Kioko the pirate

Chapter 8: Fates

Having heard the ship's announcement, the entire Pelekai family made their way onto the bridge. The triplets, wrapped in towels and still damp from their swim, were the first to rush in. Though their pool time had been cut short they were eager to see their first alien planet. Shemata came next, followed closely by the rest of the family. They all gathered around the central control station, where Kioko sat with fingers flying across the controls. Everyone looked straight out into space, expecting to see the pirate's home planet before them, but to their disappointment all they saw were countless stars.

"Umm… uncle," Ashley said as her head fell sideways from the weight of her confusion. "Are you sure we're there?"

"I'm positive." Kioko replied bluntly.

"Then… where's the planet?" Kina asked with the same confused expression as his sister.

Oki placed his paw on his brother's shoulder and gave a sorrowful sigh. "We were too late," the boy said as he shook his head. "It looks like the Death Star has already struck."

"This is as close as we can get to Korigon without being detected." Shemata explained as she stood next to Kioko.

"So we're basically parking in the boonies?" Nani asked.

"As I said, the Koroku was the gem of the imperial fleet, I couldn't just park it in orbit around the planet. That would cause more problems than you'd want to get involved with," Kioko said as he looked over his shoulder at Nani. "We'll have to take the shuttle the rest of the way."

"Oh no, Jumba is not squeezing into junky tin can again!" the large scientist said as he crossed his arms in defiance.

"You don't have a choice, big guy," Shemata chuckled as she patted Jumba on the shoulder. The large scientist scoffed at the woman's remark and pulled his shoulder away from her hand. Jumba's simple act of defiance triggered Shemata's honed instincts. The former officer reached around, grabbed Jumba by the wrist and wrenched his arm around behind his back.

The family gasped as he fell to the ground. Shemata's vast experience in dealing with unruly criminals had made her arm lock all but inescapable. "If you're worried about fitting I could just fold you up like a shirt and stuff you in a cargo hold if that's what you'd prefer."

"This is not how to treat guests to wedding!" the scientist yelled as he winced in pain.

"Honey, please try not to break our guests before the ceremony," Kioko said gently, "It'd put a bummer on the ceremony if they were in casts."

Shemata smiled and released the scientist, who sat up and held his sore shoulder.

"'Honey, please'? No matter how many times I hear that it'll never sound characteristic of you," said Takuza as he walked onto the bridge. "However that classic police brutality is right on character for you, Shemata."

The woman gave the conman a dirty look as he walked up next to her. "You must be itching to break an arm or snap a leg by 'accident' and get away with it."

"I've never broken an arm or leg… by accident, Takuza," Shemata said threateningly.

Takuza laughed. "You're empty threats don't scare me, lady," Takuza said as he leaned in towards the woman. "Your…"

Without warning Shemata's fist came up and crashed into Takuza's jaw, knocking him off his feet into the air. "I've never made an empty threat either." She said as the man landed on his back several feet away.

"Remember what I just said, dear." Kioko said as he turned to look at his bride-to-be.

"Screw what you said, he deserved it, dammit!"

Kioko just laughed as the rest of the family looked on in awkward silence. Soon after, Kioko motioned for the family to gather their belongings and everyone headed for the large doors. Everyone save for Stitch, who remained semi-frozen by Kioko's words.

The experiment's eyes locked onto Kioko as he watched him walk away. 'Why would he say those things,' Stitch thought. 'What could possibly motivate him to say something I thought for sure he was incapable of saying? Why doesn't anything make sense anymore!'

Stitch grabbed his ears and tugged on them in frustration.

"Stitch, you coming or what?" Stitch heard Lilo shout out.

He let go of his ears and after a deep, calming breath took off after his family. His eyes continued to drift towards Kioko. After the family had gathered their belongings they all returned to the hangar. The rusted old ship seemed to have aged even more since they had last seen it. Jumba was hesitant to try squeezing back into the confined space, but his hesitance withered with the pop of Shemata's knuckles. With the same reassuring shutter and shakes, the ship took off and flew out into deep space. They watched as the mighty Koroku's cloaking device activated, fading the ship away into the stars.

The insecurity that they had felt when the flying bucket of rust had had exited Earth's atmosphere paled in comparison to the gut twisting anxiety they felt when the tiny ship entered vortex space. The ship shook so much they thought for sure it would disintegrate. The shaking only subsided a little once they were inside the vortex; it was fortunate that none of them had sensitive stomachs. It was also fortunate that the trip was quite short. Only a few minutes later they reached the end of the vortex. After another short burst of violent shaking the ship emerged with the grand planet of Korigon looming large in front of them. Nani and the kids were struck speechless as they looked upon the first alien world they had ever seen. Their eyes followed the trails of black, brown and orange clouds that covered the planet like a thick blanket. Their imaginations cranked out as many guesses as to what lay beneath as possible. Even Stitch and Lilo, who had already set foot on the planet, were unable to keep their jaws from dropping.

Angel hoped up on the control panel and leaned forward against the tiny window. "I'm glad I get to see it this time without the whole being kidnapped thing." Angel said as she placed a paw on the window.

"I can't believe I'm actually looking at an alien planet," Nani said in disbelief. The woman walked up to the control panel and looked out the window, resting one hand on Angel's shoulder. "I feel like this is some historic event or something."

"Sadly, Lilo got to claim the title as the first human to ever set foot on Korigon," Kioko said. "However, you can claim the title as oldest human ever to visit."

"I'm not sure if I should take that as a good thing or if I should clock you one." The woman said with a harsh look in her eye.

Kioko simply chuckled and returned his focus to piloting the ship. Through the tiny window they watched as the planet grew closer and closer. Rocks of iron and ice the size of houses drifted gently below them as they flew over the planets rings. The window became so crowded with heads that Kioko had to stand up in order to see where he was going. Green flames licked the front of the ship as they descended through the atmosphere. The threat of the ship breaking apart became even more real as a conduit running along the ceiling burst during their descent. Everyone but Kioko and Shemata flinched as sparks rained down.

Grips tightened throughout the ship. The feeling of being out of control grew stronger with each passing moment. Just as their anxiety peaked and it seemed they would lose control the green flames subsided and they saw before them a sight far more aw-inspiring then anything they'd ever seen. Below them was a city, a vast jungle of glass and metal stretching off into the horizon. Invisible highways filled with countless varieties of ships crisscrossed between towering structures, glistening like streams flowing between mountains.

The eyes of the triplets fell onto the rolling waves of the violet ocean that held the city at bay. As they continued to descend, the ship filled with dim orange light, making them all feel as if twilight had instantly fallen. Angel turned around and craned her neck to try and look straight back up into the sky. The brown and orange clouds she had seen from space slowly churned above them, but the light of the sun filtered through and caused them to glow with warmth like that of heaven itself. For a moment she felt peace, her anxious heart and mind calmed under the nearly hypnotizing glow of the alien sky. The deep blue sky above Kauai had always helped calm her, but something about the Korigonian sky made her feel as if she were wrapped in blanket and tucked away safe. Violins played a haunting yet serene sound in her head as she watched the clouds slowly swirl about.

She watched as they moved further and further away until finally the sharp peaks of buildings began to rise up around her. She turned around in time to see a landing pad coming up quickly below them. Kioko moved everyone off of the console and had them sit down as the ship prepared to land. Below them rose a tall building shaped like a chisel set upon a wider cubic base. Dozens of mechanical arms tipped with landing pads were folded against the backside of the chisel. Several of the arms had ships of various sizes and designs perched upon them. One of the vacant arms slowly began to swing out and came to a stop right underneath the descending ship.

With one final shutter and shake the ship landed on the pad. White knuckles unclenched as the whirring of the engines died away. After making their way down the ladder and gathering their things, light started to peek in around the edge of the rear door as it opened with a rusted grinding sound. Nani closed her eyes and took in a deep breath of the alien air. The air was warm and carried with it a light smell of iron with just a subtle sweetness to it. She still couldn't believe that she was on a totally different planet. Even after taking three aliens into her home she never imagined herself leaving Earth, let alone setting foot on another world. She wasn't the only one awestruck, the triplets all walked off of the ship and looked from one end of the horizon to the other. They tried counting every spire on every building they could see, but even with their sharp minds they quickly lost count.

"This is going to take some getting used to." Nani said as she repeatedly raised and lowered her arms, feeling the increased gravity upon them.

"You'll have a lot more to get used to than just the gravity," Takuza laughed as he walked past the family with his numerous bags and plopped them down on the platform. "You'll need to watch what you say, otherwise you may end up in somebody's stomach."

The man held a straight face as he locked eyes with the disturbed woman and then started to chuckle. "I'm just yanking your chain, no one would want to eat you."

Nani's disturbed expression morphed into one of disdain as she found herself oddly insulted. "Don't terrify the other guests, Takuza," Kioko said as he walked off the ship. "I don't want them having nightmares now."

The conman shrugged off the pirates comment and proceeded to look around expectantly. "So who's going to take my bags?"

"You are," Shemata blurted as she picked up one of Takuza's bags and hurled it at him. The bag hit Takuza square in the chest and nearly sent him stumbling back off the edge of the platform. "That spoiled rich guy attitude isn't going to fly with me, got it?"

Takuza rolled his eyes. "Sure what ever."

Takuza turned to walk away but was suddenly grabbed around the neck from behind by Shemata, who had pulled a wicked looking blaster out of one of her bags and was pressing the barrel against the man's temple. "What did you say, scum?" Shemata asked with a toothy grin.

Nervous sweat instantly began to run down the man's face. No matter how many times he was put into that situation he never got used to it. "I said, yes Ma'am." Takuza managed to squeak out.

Satisfied with the answer Shemata let him go and gave him a swift kick in the ass to get him moving. Kioko laughed while the rest of the family stared dumbfounded at the female variant of Kioko. After the moment passed, the family gathered up their things and made their way into the building. Takuza led the way as the platform folded back against the building. As the doors closed behind them and the orange light of Korigan disappeared, dim yellow lights clicked on to reveal a descending corridor lined with pipes and bundles of wire. It felt more like they were descending into the bowels of a ship rather than a hotel. At the end of the corridor was a set of double doors. Shemata stepped forward with a card she'd pulled from her pocket and slid it through a small card reader next to the doors. The rusted doors slid open to reveal a highly polished hallway that appeared to have been pulled straight from the most opulent mansion.

A chorus of wow's rose up to the top of the halls vaulted ceiling, which was held up by stone columns that lined each wall. To the left, at the end of the hallway, was a pair of elevator doors ornately decorated with sun-shaped designs. To the right, at the other end of the hallway, was a pair of even larger doors with the same sun design as the elevator; however, the trim around the door seemed to be carved out of solid gold.

"Ok, I'm hesitant to even step on the floor," Nani said as she looked at her reflection staring up at her from the floor. "I don't think I can afford to even make a scuff mark."

"Don't worry, Nani," said Kioko as he and Shemata walked toward the larger doors. "We've got everything covered. Bust up the place if you wish."

Nani smiled awkwardly as Shemata gave her soon-to-be husband a quick jab in the arm. "This place is amazing," Lilo said as she looked around at the masterful pieces of art that hung from the walls. "I never would have imagined that I'd be allowed in a place like this."

"That goes for both of us," admitted Shemata as she stopped next to a control panel beside the doors. "I could never afford to stay in a place like this on the crappy salary they were giving me in my department." An expression of realization shot across the woman's face. "You know, now that I think about it, being with a pirate has shown me just how crappy a job being a police officer really was. I think it was that passion I had that kept me from seeing it. Thank you, guy."

Kioko smiled as the woman gave him a quick kiss. Angel turned away with her tongue protruding from her lips in disgust. Unfortunately, she turned right toward Stitch who saw her expression and thought she was making a joke and so he laughed. Angel turned to see everyone looking right at her. All she could do was muster an awkward smirk as her ears fell to her shoulders. The moment was broken though as Shemata slide her card through a slot on the control panel and a loud click was heard. Kioko pushed open the doors and walked into the room along with Shemata and Takuza. The eyes of the family lit up as they stepped into the room, if one could call it simply a room.

Before them a curved set of stairs formed a crescent shape around the room that led down to a sunken living area where several chairs and couches sat in a circle facing each other. The opposite wall was made entirely of glass, allowing every inch of the room to be bathed in the haunting light of Korigon. On each side of the room were sets of stairs that led up to the bedrooms, each of the four bedrooms had it's own balcony that looked out over the common room. The family slowly walked into the room, admiring every elegant detail. They dropped their bags at the bottom of the stairs and stood at the center of the room in amazement. They all felt far out of place. Kioko and Shemata walked past the awestruck group and stepped up to the large glass wall.

"If you guys think the room is amazing, why not come and check out the view?" Kioko asked as he pushed open a nearly seamless door in the glass and stepped out onto a large patio.

The group followed the couple out onto the patio where the whole of the cities skyline glistened like a range of diamond mountains and glass valleys. They gathered along the rails and looked all around. Looking down they saw no discernable bottom to the building, as it seemed to merge with every other building around it. Despite the extreme height of the building there was only a mild breeze. Expressions varied, for most the sight was beautiful but not so surprising, but for Lilo and Nani the sight was both an experience for the senses and the mind. Knowing that they were on an alien planet, farther from home than any other human had ever been, was a thrill. Although Lilo had been to Korigon before, it had been for such a brief time that she didn't get a chance to really appreciate it. Her imagination ran amuck as she tried to imagine what fantastical things lay within the massive city and beyond.

"My god, David would be losing his mind right now," Nani said as she looked beyond the city toward the purple ocean where she saw huge waves crashing against the coast. "This would be a dream come true for him."

"There will be plenty of time to see the sights, but for right now, let me show you how to use some of the amenities in the room," Shemata said as she turned back to the room. "Plus I'm sure you're all pretty hungry."

Stitch turned around laughing and rubbing his belly. "Lady, there isn't a second of the day where I couldn't eat a couple dozen horses," Stitch said as he and the rest of the family started walking toward the room.

"Is that so," Shemata asked questioningly as she folded her arms over her chest. "I've been known to have quite an appetite myself."

"Are you challenging me?" Stitch asked with one cocked eyebrow.

Shemata didn't say a word; she just smiled and continued on into the room with her soon to be in-laws trailing behind. Stitch wiped some drool from the corner of his mouth and ran ahead with his endless appetite leading the way. Angel could only smile and shake her head, there were times when she wondered whether or not she was number one in Stitch's life or if she was second to food. Just as she was about to step back inside she noticed that Kioko had not budged. She paused for a moment, she wanted to see if he would suddenly turn around, but he didn't. He just continued to stare out over the city. She looked back into the room; Shemata had led the family off into the kitchen where she amazed Lilo, Nani and the triplets with a food replicater and impressed Stitch with how much food it could produce at any one time.

In an instant she recognized her chance to finally speak with Kioko. Everyone else was distracted and he seemed in little hurry to move let alone run off on some wedding errand. She approached the pirate with hurried steps, she didn't want to waste any time. She felt like she was in a race against the clock to get the answers she wanted. She worried that her anxiousness to solve the mystery of overcoming her vile curse would tie her tongue, but to her relief the words came out smoothly.

"Kioko, do you think we can talk now," Angel asked as she tugged on his pants leg. Kioko didn't respond, he just continued to stare out over the city, toward the glowing orange horizon. "You said we could talk the first chance we got. I want to know, I want to know how you've conquered your curse! I want to know why it doesn't torture you the way it does me!" Angel said urgently with her fists clenched and her desperate eyes locked onto his face.

Kioko's smirk didn't even twitch, his eyes remained fixed to the distance. "What is life when there is only somber twilight and empty night," Kioko recited without acknowledging Angel's presence. "When can life take hold when all that is teeters on the edge and falls? Where is life's warmth when all is not but sleep? Joys of life flirt in men's dreams, a cruel mistress who grants life only after night consumes."

A puzzled look overcame Angel as she looked up at the pirate. Kioko's sudden decision to recite poetry wasn't what confused her; it was the strange look in his eyes. They were reminiscent and yet appeared amused by the skyline stretching out before them. She would usually think him happy to be home, just remembering all the times he had in the city. His smirk, however; didn't fit that idea. His lips were tight and only rose up at the corners. It was as if he were looking upon the city as an old rival, a rival he seemed to be saying, "I told you so" to.

"Have you ever gotten that feeling that you just can't escape something," Kioko asked as he leaned forward on the railing. "A feeling like no matter how far you ran or how ever hard you tried to resist you could never break free?"

Angel's face twisted disbelievingly, why would he ask a question with such an obvious answer. The whole reason they became so close was because they shared a problem that they couldn't escape. The experiment opened her mouth to say something, but then decided against it, thinking that perhaps the man had a point.

"There have been so many times in my life where I swore I'd never set foot in this city again, but my words never lasted for very long. For one reason or another I always ended up back here. What made it worse was that the more time I spent here; the shorter the period between visits seemed to get. I always dreaded the days that would lead me back, no matter what the reason was, it was never something I enjoyed."

"That's understandable, after everything that happened to you when you were young, I'm sure this city doesn't hold many fond memories."

Kioko chuckled quietly. "That's exactly the reason," Kioko said. "This city has changed a lot since I was little. The buildings are taller and there are more of them. More ships crowed the sky and the city itself just feels older, but that's not how I see it. I see this city as it was, not how it is, so all the events of my life that took place here stand out as if they were still going on."

Angel sighed as she pressed her face between the bars of the railing, for a moment her own demons faded into the background as she tried to imagine how horrific Kioko's demons were. Even though the two of them shared the same curse, her life had still been far better than his. A tiny spark of guilt suddenly appeared in her heart. She knew the nightmares that Kioko had lived through and yet he still seemed able to overcome his curse. What hardships had she felt that entitled her problems to take priority? The worst time in her life had been spent locked in a dark room with no one to talk to. Being kidnapped by Pantucka hadn't even come close to being as bad, but when she thought about the oceans of flame Kioko had been forced to wade through as a child, her hardships seemed mostly trivial. She tightened her grip on the metal rails as she praised Kioko's resilience and condemned her own feebleness.

"You see that group of tall buildings off in the distance," Kioko said to Angel, though he still didn't look at her. "The ones surrounded by much shorter ones,"

Angel looked in the direction Kioko was looking and saw the buildings he spoke of. Together they seemed to form a pyramid that someone had cut vertically into five pieces. A glowing light that illuminated the tops of the lower buildings around them topped each piece.

"Do you know why those buildings stand so much higher then their neighbors,"

"How should I know, I don't live here." Angel replied as she looked back to Kioko.

Kioko's smirk finally bared his teeth while the look of amusement grew in his gaze. "They were built in order to try and hide one of the many nightmares that has ravaged this city. They're nothing more than a mask hiding a foolish, self-inflicted wound."

"A self-inflicted wound," Angel asked to herself as she glanced back at the buildings. "What wound?"

The start of a chuckle escaped Kioko's throat but he stopped it short of becoming a full-blown laugh. "A long time ago I fought against royal military forces in that very same place. They tried to surround me with every piece of military hardware they could muster. Heavy armor, aircraft, an entire army division armed with anti-armor cannons, any other man would have been utterly powerless to resist. The only thing they weren't prepared for, was the one thing they should have had in mind from the beginning, who it was they were dealing with."

Angel's eyes sank and a small, sympathetic coo escaped her lips as she immediately recognized the ending to his tale.

Kioko's smile retreated slightly as he closed his eyes and shook his head disparagingly. "Countless men lost their lives with a single sweep of my hand that night. Man and machine were reduced to ash in the blink of an eye. It was a tragedy for the people of this city," Angel cringed as she looked out and imagined seeing a brilliant column of flames shooting up from the city. Kioko's smile suddenly increased in intensity while his eyes shot open in an unblinking stare. "So what do those fools do, they rebuilt! They felt guilty for sending so many men to their deaths so they tried to hide their mistake under tall new buildings. They thought they could erase history simply by burying it, but don't they realize just how easily history can repeat itself?"

Kioko quickly raised his arm and pointed his palm toward the buildings. Angel's ears shot up in alarm as a swirling sphere of yellow energy manifested in front of Kioko's hand. "With so little effort I can make them face the very thing they try so desperately to ignore. With less effort than it takes to breathe I can return everything to ash!" Angel's heart leapt into her throat while Kioko's face twisted into madness.

Without thinking she jumped up onto the railing, grabbed Kioko's arm and pushed it up toward the sky. His gaze broken, Kioko's eyes turned and locked onto the pink experiment. In a flash, Kioko turned his palm and swung his hand toward her. The ball of energy vanished a split second before Kioko's hand connected with her gut. Angel's panic-filled eyes snapped closed and a burst of laughter erupted from her gut as Kioko tickled her. His "attack" lasted only a second, but when Angel opened her eyes Kioko's expression had become goofy and playful with no sign of the crazed expression she had seen just a moment before. Angel then started to realize that Kioko's silly expression was tilting to one side and growing further away. Angel froze up, an amused smile still partially stuck on her face, when she felt the railing slip out from under her feet.

Out of the corner of her eye she could see straight down into the cross crossing rivers of speeding ships and the bottomless depths of the city's manmade valleys. But before she could drop even an inch, Kioko grabbed her by the foot lifted her up so she was eye level with him.

"But with your interference their fate is changed," Kioko said with a laugh as he moved Angel closer so their noses nearly touched. "All it ever takes is just one person to change the fate of many. Whether that change is for the better or worse is up to that one person. Don't you think so?"

Angel was quiet for a moment, her eyes locked onto Kioko's, convinced that the answer to her questions could be found within their black depths. "Well, I would hope that if that person has the chance to change another's fate for the better, they would." Angel said as she fought to swallow the saliva running back into her mouth from her throat.

The pirate's face suddenly went blank while his eyes drifted to the side, looking back in toward the room. It was faint, but Angel could see regret hidden in his eyes. "But what if changing their fate for the better, ended up hurting someone else's?" Angel furrowed her brow, unsure of how to answer. "What would you do then?"

"I suppose it would be hard to change something as grand as fate without hurting someone," Angel said softly. "I would just try and make it hurt as little as possible."

"So you would change someone's fate as long as it benefited them and harmed as few as possible," Kioko asked before he looked back into Angel's eyes.

With another gulp of spit Angel gave a nod. A momentary smirk crossed Kioko's face. "I see." Kioko said as he ran the top of his fingers across Angel's cheek, which caused her to blush.

Kioko finally brought her back onto the balcony and set her down. Kioko turned and walked back toward the room. Angel tried to get up and hurry after him, but the moment she stood all the blood rushed from her head and she fell back onto her fanny. Looking through the darkened, blurry tunnel left by the drop in blood pressure, Angel watched Kioko as he stood in the doorway. Her vision was unclear, but the pirate seemed to be looking back at her, waiting for her to follow. Her vision may have been dulled but her mind felt sharper than ever; Kioko was still struggling and he wanted her help to change his fate.

**Took me long enough to finish this chapter, I apologize greatly. I won't make any claim on when the next chapter will be up. This will probably be my busiest semester ever. But never fear, unless you see me post a message saying that I've given up writing I will continue to update. Not always timely, but reliably. Thank you for your patience.**


	9. Suspicion, Fear and Jealousy

The Three Demons: Descent

By: Kioko the pirate

Chapter 9: Suspicion, Fear and Jealousy

The family's first night on Korigon was, for the most part, a pleasant one. The room was silent despite the roar of ships outside. Lilo, Nani and the triplets slept soundly even though it was their first night on an alien planet. Unfortunately, there was one member of the family to whom sleep would not come.

With Stitch snoring loudly beside her, his belly bulging with all the food he'd eaten in competition with Shemata, Angel lay wide awake, staring up at the dark ceiling. Her lack of sleep could not be blamed on her mate's thunderous sleeping, as she'd grown used to it over the years, instead it was Kioko's words. She found it somewhat humorous how many nights she'd been kept up by the things the pirate had said. This time however, there was nothing to laugh about.

"All it ever takes is just one person to change the fate of many." Kioko said over and over in her mind.

That was Kioko's way of asking for help, he was far too proud to come right out and ask so he had to disguise it as a generalized thought. She felt she knew Kioko well enough that she was accurate in her assessment. For the first time in her life she felt the pressure of having someone's fate resting upon her shoulders. She had always been the one needing rescued, but this time it was her hero that needed saving.

Angel suddenly caught a thought floating between her subconscious and conscious. When the word "hero" appeared in her mind it came with the image of only Kioko. The pink experiment felt a wave of guilt rush over her as she looked over at Stitch. He was her first hero; he saved her from being Hamsterveil's little pawn and he became the father of her children. So why did he not appear in her mind? The more she thought about it the more she realized how long it'd been since Stitch had been on her mind. She bit her lower lip lightly as she scolded herself in her mind. She cared about both men very much, but she couldn't let herself start to favor one over another.

Angel lifted up the sheets and slid over closer to her buchi-boo. She lowered the covers as she tried to press herself against Stitch's side with her arm draped over his chest. Unfortunately, as she adjusted herself into a comfortable position, Stitch rolled over and caught Angel in the nose with his elbow. Angel let out a small yelp as her eyes immediately started to water. She held her nose and felt for any blood while she hopped out of bed and went to the bathroom.

She turned on only some lights that lined the mirror and left the rest of the bathroom dark. She hopped onto the counter and started checking her nose. There was no blood, but there was a tug at her heart and soul. The logical, problem-solving part of her mind, given to her by Jumba, told her that Stitch should come first, but the other part of her mind was driven by something she couldn't explain. It had been born in her the moment Kioko had told her of the curse they both shared. It was that mind that was leading her to seek out Shemata's true intentions. She loved Stitch more than life itself, but she felt a loyalty toward Kioko that felt as natural as breathing.

She stared at herself in the mirror as if the cure for her confusion was written on her face. But all that she saw was her past confusions.

She moved her paw slowly down from her nose and onto her lips; the same lips with which she'd kissed both Stitch and Kioko. Her paw continued to move downward neither her mind nor body could tell her whom she cared for more. She'd given herself to Stitch but in her mind more than one night had been spent in Kioko's company.

Angel's unblinking stare on her self was abruptly broken when she realized that her paw had slipped somewhere personal. She shook her head to try and break away from her thoughts. She turned on the sink and splashed some water against her face. She knew she wasn't going to be able to decide between the two men she loved so easily, if at all. She could only come to one conclusion; she would have to do all she could to avoid favoritism. She would have to forever love Stitch just as she always had and she would have to be as loyal to Kioko as possible.

Angel looked back at herself in the mirror after drying her face and gave a nod of agreement. Her mind, for the time being, was made up. She hopped off the counter and started to go back to bed, but as she passed by the door her legs locked in place and her body froze. An overwhelming sensation washed over her whole body, icy tendrils wrapping themselves around her body. She tried to move forward, but it was as if an impassable wall stood before her. The tendrils grip grew stronger and stronger, her body and breath trembled, but it was not from fear.

A storm of excitement appeared in the pit of her stomach as she felt the tendrils guide her body toward the door. She looked between the door and Stitch, who was now lying with his butt in the air, wandering if he'd hear her. She opened the door and he remained fast asleep. She walked out into the main room, guided by the invisible entities that bound her. It was dark, the only glimpses of light came from passing ships far below, which cast dancing shadows across the ceiling.

She walked quietly over to the stairs that led up to Kioko's room and started to climb. The tendrils seemed to grow more eager in their pushing, Angel felt like she'd trip and fall they were pushing her so fast. She had to run to keep pace. Before she knew it she found her self-standing outside Kioko and Shemata's bedroom. Her body seemed out of her control as she watched her paw rise up and push the door open. She was surprised that it hadn't been locked, but thought nothing more of it.

She slowly opened the door, careful not to make even the slightest sound. The moment the door was wide open the foot of Kioko's bed came into view. The passing glimmers of light fell like a glowing pathway toward the bed. Angel took a slow step into the room and the moment her foot touched down, the tendrils around her body vanished as if just a passing dream. Yet she still felt the urge to move forward for a reason unknown to her.

The beat of her heart quickened with each step she took. She was eager for something but hadn't the faintest idea what it could be. Angel tried to stop herself from proceeding by placing her paw on the foot of Kioko's bed, but the moment she did it seemed like the worst possible decision. So she continued forward until finally she stood beside Kioko's bed.

'What am I doing here,' Angel wondered to herself as she carefully climbed up onto the bed and sat down beside the sleeping pirate.

The gentle expression upon Kioko's face was in stark contrast to every word that had ever been spoken of his evil deeds. It was as if all he had done were merely a forgotten dream. Angel felt envious, it seemed as though all the pain and anxiety that comes with the curse were also just a faded nightmare. She was convinced that he had found a way to break the curse, but the fact that he refused to tell her what it was infuriated her.

Angel bit her lower lip to keep herself quiet. The relationship that once brought her relief from her torments was beginning to leave her feeling alone. She wanted to believe that he knew what was best for her, but her patience was growing thin. She just wanted to live a normal, carefree life. She didn't want to worry about hurting the people who welcomed her into the family with open arms and who love her despite what she'd done in the past. If only she could squeeze the answers out of him, things would be so much easier.

'Why am I doing this?' Angel continued to wonder as she watched her paw drift gently toward Kioko's face.

Her short, stubby digits stopped just inches from his face and then withdrew in a flash. She closed her eyes, gripped her head and dug her fingers into her temples as she began to feel what she thought were the tendrils slithering up her back.

'Stop it, stop it, stop it,' she pleaded in her head as her teeth drew blood from her lower lip, 'just leave me alone.'

She opened her eyes as she felt a small trickle of blood run down her chin. She watched as it fell down onto the sheets. Angel's brow furrowed, it was too dark for her to be sure, but it looked as if the blood was black. Her eyes shot open as the memories of her capture by 6-2-7 flooded into her skull. That had been the last time she had seen black blood.

Just like back then, she felt the anxiety and confusion leave her as wisps of black drifted hauntingly from her mouth.

'What is this sensation,' she wondered as her eyes followed the wisps of black up toward the ceiling where they vanished into the shadows. 'I know it isn't right, this is not a good thing, but why does it feel so natural?'

Her eyes were focused on the gently dancing streams of black when something in the distance caught her eye. In the dark she could see Shemata, lying in another bed, sit up and stretch her arms high into the air. It took a moment for the situation to click in Angel's clouded mind, but in an instant she jumped off the bed and held herself low to the floor. Her eyes looked toward the open door, her only escape route, but the sounds of Shemata getting up out of bed made any undetected escape impossible. On the verge of panic, Angel looked around for a hiding place but could only see a gap under Kioko's bed.

With a tentative sigh Angel sucked in her gut and pushed herself back against the opening under the bed. Her butt resisted the effort and refused to fit. The ex-policewoman's footsteps grew closer, Angel pushed as hard as she could to fit under the bed but her posterior wouldn't relent. Shemata was practically upon her; she had no time to panic. Out of the corner of her eye Angel could see Shemata's foot moving toward the door. Angel did the only thing she could think of, she pressed herself as flat against the floor as she could and held her breath.

Watching with barely open eyes, Angel saw the former policewoman stop in the doorway and look around. Angel's thought for sure that she'd be spotted and readied an excuse to explain her being in their room in the middle of the night.

"I thought we closed this door," Shemata said in a whisper to herself.

To Angel's amazement the woman did not investigate further and simply walked out closing the door behind her. The experiment let out her held breath and let her head fall against the floor. But she had no time to rest as her suspicious curiosity kicked into high gear.

"Where is she going at this time of night?" Angel asked herself in her own hushed tone.

Angel rushed over and quietly opened the door, just a little at first, but when she saw that Shemata wasn't on the other side she opened it further and hurried out of the room. She made it down the stairs in time to see the main door to the room close. Angel's first instinct was to follow the woman, anyone who ventures out in the middle of the night without telling anyone, was up to no good as far as she was concerned. She ran over to the large double doors but stopped just before opening them. She started to have concerns as she looked back toward her own room. She wasn't sure what would happen if Stitch woke up and found her missing.

Her doubts, though, were quickly shoved aside when she heard the door to the landing pad open and close down the hall. Angel opened the doors less quietly than before and ran out into the hallway, the nails of her feet clicking and scraping against the polished floor. Angel paused in the passage leading up to the landing pad as she heard the large mechanical arm swinging outward. After the sound of the large mechanism stopped she waited for a few moments to allow Shemata time to get to the ship. When she heard the door on the back of the ship open with a rusted squeak she made her move.

Angel scrambled down the arm on all fours, keeping an eye on the cockpit windows to make sure the woman didn't see her. When she got to the back of the ship the door was already closing, but in a flash Angel scaled the door and slipped inside with only a few inches to spare. Once inside Angel could hear Shemata starting the engines and cursing the junk of a ship her fiancé had acquired.

Angel braced herself against a bulkhead as the ship lurched into the air. With no windows to show her where they were going, Angel could only wonder where they were heading. She tried to keep track of their movements in her head, but within moments the number of direction changes lost her. She then tried to listen for any clues that could give away their position, but between the countless groaning and creaking noises of the ship and the fact that she didn't know the city well enough to associate noises with locations, her efforts proved fruitless.

With no other option, Angel hunkered down in a corner of the ship and waited. She didn't have to wait long before she felt the ship begin to descend. The whirring of the engines began to steadily decrease before the ship gave a sudden jerk as it touched down. As the sounds of the ship died away, Angel could hear Shemata unbuckling herself. The pink experiment hurriedly looked around for some cover as the sound of Shemata's boots thumped toward the ladder. Looking up she saw a bundle of cables running across the ceiling if the ship, against her better judgment, Angel risked electrocution, scurried up the wall and climbed on top of the cables. She covered her mouth to keep from hacking as a cloud of dust instantly hit her.

Through watering eyes she saw Shemata climb down the ladder and walk toward the back of the ship. As the door opened Angel could see that they had landed on a tiny platform far below the hustle and bustle of the city above. Even though her nostrils were filled with dust, the putrid smell that flowed into the ship hit her hard enough to make her gag. Angel held her paw against her mouth as tight as she could but she was unable to keep everything bottled up and one fragment of a cough slipped out between her fingers. Her grip immediately tightened to close the gap when she saw Shemata stop in the doorway of the ship and look back inward. Angel kept herself frozen as the woman carefully eyed the inside of the ship.

The woman then noticed the cloud of dust drifting to the floor. Angel could tell what Shemata was looking at and once again prepared herself to be discovered. But fortunately for her, Shemata figured the dust had just come loose upon landing and turned away. Angel breathed a sigh of relief while wondering just how Shemata made it as a police officer if she was so easy to hide from.

A few moments later Angel had slipped from her hiding place and followed Shemata down off of a rusted landing platform near the bottom of the metal and glass ravines of the city. Angel practiced her best ninja impersonation as she kept to the shadows as best she could without getting too close to the woman or loosing sight of her. She kept a sharp focus on Shemata, searching vigilantly for any sign of the woman's intent. It was not an easy task, as Angel had to force herself to ignore the filth that dominated the lower reaches of the city. As she darted between alleyways and climbed over pieces of equipments whose function appeared largely forgotten, she wished she'd worn shoes and a hat as she stepped in unknown, sticky muck while questionable liquids dripped down upon her from high above.

But there was no hope of turning back. The further they walked the more maze-like the lower city became. Yet Shemata seemed to know the place intimately as she never stopped once to check her location. This only served to heighten Angel's suspicions. Looking around at the degradation that dominated the unseen part of the mighty city, Angel could scarcely imagine anything good coming from Shemata's outing.

Angel followed the former police officer for over an hour until finally Shemata climbed up a ladder leading to a raised platform with a large rusted door at the top. Angel stopped a short distance away and watched her from around a corner. Shemata stepped up to the door, looked around, but failed to notice Angel and then wrapped on the door ten times with her knuckles. Angel kept her eyes glued on the woman until finally there was another knock on the door from the other side. Shemata responded by kicking the door two times.

After a moment the door opened with metallic groan, but it barely opened enough for Shemata to squeeze inside. Once inside the door slammed shut and the sound of heavy locks echoed from behind the door. Angel stepped out of the shadows and looked up at the door. There were no signs to tell her where exactly they had come, but she knew she wouldn't be able to get inside. She looked around for somewhere to keep a better eye on the place. She spotted a ledge across from the door on the other side of deep drainage ditch that would give her an excellent vantage point.

Not knowing how long Shemata would be inside, Angel ran over and climbed up onto the ledge. With no lights nearby, Angel didn't have to try too hard to stay out of sight. In fact, it would have proven harder for her to find someone to notice her. As she settled in to wait for Shemata to reappear, Angel was taken aback by the total lack of life in the area. For a city that held billions of people to have any area devoid of life seemed farfetched. She could certainly smell the evidence of life, but everything around her had a feeling of antiquity to it.

She could hear the low rumble of ships of all shapes and sizes far above her head, and yet she felt surrounded by an eerie silence. She tried to keep her mind occupied by watching for even the lightest clue as to what Shemata was doing beyond the door and for a while it worked. But as her focus tightened on the door she got the feeling that something was wrong. The sound of the ships grew further away; the smells around her became muted and cold chill drifted up and down her back. At first she blew it off as a result of stress, after all, she was alone in the middle of a foreign city in the middle of the night trailing a woman who may or may not have ill intent toward Kioko. Then all the sounds around her fell silent and she got the overwhelming feeling that something, somewhere was watching her.

Angel got to her feet and started walking in small circles, hoping to shake the unnerving feeling.

"Come on, Angel, get yourself together," Angel said to herself as she watched her feet trace circles on the ground, "you're just a little agitated that's all, nothing more than that."

Angel continued to walk in circles as she stared expectantly at the metal door. "That woman's just got you feeling anxious, but the moment you figure out what she's up to everything will be ok."

Angel started to grit her teeth as the unsettling feelings refused to abate. The fur on the back of her neck stood on end as another, stronger wave of chills crawled up her spine. The chills were different from the icy feeling she got in the hotel, this felt far more menacing. She looked around in all directions for a source of the chills, but she could see nothing in the darkness.

"Ok, not a problem, you're in a very low lying area and since cold air is heavier than warm air it sinks," Angel said in an attempt to rationalize her way out of her mounting anxiety, "You're just down where all the cold air is… and all these buildings probably act as a wind tunnel, which explains the waves of cold air. There, that's the reason."

Angel turned back toward the door and leaned forward on a pipe, confident that she had defeated her fears. Her mind returned to pondering what it was Shemata was doing. The door she had entered was the only entrance into what seemed like a solid, towering wall of metal. As more time passed Angel began to wonder if Shemata would leave from an exit she could not see. The thought of being left alone at night in the city made her worry for a moment, but she reasoned that it would only be a small inconvenience to find some way to get in contact with the family.

The thing she needed to focus on was; what did the woman come here to do? Angel figured she'd be able to at least narrow down the possibilities depending on what she saw when Shemata reemerged. But until then she could only wait. With nothing more to look at than a door, Angel's mind wandered. Despite her suspicions toward Shemata, she wondered what the wedding would be like; she wondered what kinds of rituals were involved, before, during and… after the ceremony. Angel immediately sprung from her day dreaming the moment her thoughts drifted in a more intimate direction. She shook her head to cast the thoughts away, disgusted with herself for letting herself be drawn to any male other than Stitch in such a manner.

She knew she'd had buried feelings for the man for a long time, she remembered telling Lilo that Kioko felt like the second part of her other half, but to keep herself from feeling like she was cheating on Stitch she wrote the feelings off as feelings of companionship. Other than the occasional fleeting thought, she never had any desire to think of him as anything more, but the moment Shemata showed up they became far too common. The thought gave Angel a case of the jitters, but as she fought against them, a familiar sensation started to return.

The cold chill latched onto her again and the gaze of the unseen returned in full force. Angel immediately threw her thoughts of Kioko aside and tried to clear her mind and prevent the sensation from growing, but the more she tried to stop from thinking about it, the tighter its grip got.

"Go away, go away, go away," Angel repeated to herself as she held her head between her paws. The feeling that something was watching became almost palpable. Through her frenetic attempts to clear her mind of the unrelenting fear, Angel started to hear distant whispers, just like the ones she heard back on Earth when she hid in the bathroom. The whispers seemed to be mocking her, taking pleasure in seeing her distressed.

"Go away," Angel yelled into the shadows as she pulled her paws away from her head, "Why won't you leave me alone?"

Angel took a step back and tripped over an uneven piece of ground. She landed on her back and in an instant there was silence. The growing tempo of whispers fell quiet and the feeling of being watched disappeared. Out of breath, Angel laid on her back staring up at the crisscrossing pathways and speeding ships far above. She smiled and started to laugh as the feeling of relief filled her. As she sat back up she felt silly for letting herself get so worked up.

"I've become a drama queen," Angel laughed. "Jumba should have made me an actress rather than a singer."

Angel shook her head at her ridiculousness and looked over at large piece of glass that rested against a pipe. She saw her messed up fur, some of it curling up from the top of her head, and laughed. Just then, as her eyes focused beyond her reflection, a large dark figure in the shape of a man appeared behind her. A black wispy mist drifted up off of the figure as it raised a hand up and reached toward her. All at once the negative feelings Angel had been feeling returned. It felt as if her heart stopped dead. She tried to scream, but not even the smallest breath could work its way out of her chest.

Angel watched in wide-eyed terror, as the hand grew closer. Suddenly, the shape of the figures hand changed into an amorphous appendage with wisps of darkness rolling off of it. It was nearly upon her when dozens of purple and yellow eyes opened all over it, accompanied by a large mouth filled with dagger-like teeth. Angel spun around with a panicked whimper to face her attacker, afraid that she would feel the sharp teeth tearing into her. What she saw confused her and left a lingering tension deep in her gut. Before her was absolutely nothing. There were no signs that anybody had been there.

Angel pulled herself back against the glass and brought her knees up to her chest.

"Why did I come here," Angel asked herself with a quivering lower lip, "I just want to be back at the hotel, in bed safe in Kioko's arms." Angel let out a sharp gasp and held her paws to her face when she realized what she said. "Stitch, safe in Stitch's arms. I want to be safe in Stitch's arms, not Kioko."

Just then Angel was startled by the sound of metal grinding against metal. She crawled over to the edge of the platform and looked across the way to see Shemata coming out of the door carrying a small black bag that she tucked into her shirt. After looking around Shemata jumped down off of the platform and started walking back the way they came. Watching the woman, Angel was able to refocus and calm herself down. Her breathing slowed and Angel climbed down off of the platform and started to follow Shemata back to the ship.

Before she got far, Angel stopped and looked back toward her hiding place. She didn't know what had happened or just what it was she saw in her reflection, all she knew was it had something to do with her curse. She'd never had an experience that was so intense. She was starting to believe that the curse was growing stronger.

She followed Shemata back to the ship and slipped on board just as easily as she had before. Hey got back to the hotel and back into the room without incident. Angel watched Shemata carry the bag up to her and Kioko's room and then close the door behind her. Angel got ready to follow but then heard the door lock. Unable to do anything more, Angel turned with a frustrated sigh and walked back to her and Stitch's room. After getting washed up, Angel returned to bed. With her nerves still frazzled she crawled into bed and pulled herself close to her bloated, snoring mate. His familiar scent was a welcome alternative to the smell of the city.

She felt guilty about her thoughts towards Kioko, but as she looked toward the dark corners of the room she knew that only he could save her from the storm that seemed to be growing deep in her soul.


End file.
